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CAMP, 
FIELD AND PRISON LIFE ; 



CONTAINING 



SKETCHES OF SERVICE IN THE SOUTH AND thf 

EXPERIENCE, INCIDENTS AND OBSERVAT^SnS 

CONNECTED WITH ALMOST TWO YEARS' 

IMPRISONMENT at JOHNSON'S ISLAND 

OHIO, WHERE 8.000 CONFEDERATE ' 

OFFICERS WERE CONFINED. 



BY 



W. A. WASH, Capt., C. S. A. 



WITH AN 

INTRODUCTION BY GEN. L. M. LEWIS, 

AND A 

MEDICAL HISTORY OF JOHNSON'S ISLAND 

BY COL. I. G. W. STEEDMAN, M. D. 



SAINT LOUIS: 
SOUTHWESTERN BOOK AND PUBLISHING CO., 

510 AND 512 WASHINGTON AVENUE. 
1870. 



E(o\3 

.W3 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S70, by 

W . A . WASH, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern 
District ot Missouri. 



MN. 20, 1948 



f 3 



2 7 



PREFACE. 



Perhaps there are those who will conclude that the 
contents of this book are intended as an offset to the 
alleged inhumanity to Federal soldiers in Southern 
prisons. Not so; it deals as little as possible with the 
cruelties of war. Were I so disposed, I might now go 
back and drag up a thousand northern prison horrors 
to place beside the most revolting pen pictures of Ander- 
sonville; but who would profit or be made happier 
thereby ? Indeed, would it not be calculated rather to 
open afresh wounds now partially healed, and to revive 
unpleasant memories that we would fain obliterate. 

No doubt some will be deceived as to the anticipated 
contents of the book, for thej^ will expect to see their 
own prison exploits jotted down, especially if they 
were somewhat notorious. Such will please remember 
that it would be utterly impossible to give more than a 
tithe of what actually occured, in a single volume like 
this. Besides, my notes of prison life were not originally 
taken with a view to publication. I expected some 
abler pen than mine would portray to the world our life 
during captivity, but as no other has seen fit to write our 
prison history, I have thought that my meagre sketches 
might be acceptable to my comrades and the friends 



TV PREFACE. 

who so earnestly sj-mpathized with us while shut up 
on that little island. 

Had I intended to publish my manuscript, I would 
have taken much fuller notes and preserved manj'- 
items and facts which would have added greatly to the 
interest of the book. But the opi^ortunity is now lost 
forever, since, in the great flow of events then daily 
transpiring, it was impossible to keep them all in the 
mind. What I have written will serve as an outline, to 
be filled up by each particular individual according to 
his experience. 

The introductory of Gen. Lewis will be recognized 
and eagerly perused by many hundreds who were on 
Johnson's Island, for the tone and style are character- 
istic, and perhaps no one in prison was better known. 
The hearts of some will swell with continued gratitude 
as they think again of him who ministered to their 
spiritual welfare, and persuaded them to forsake their 
evil ways; and many a masonic brother will go back 
in memory and bless him for his zealous labors in their 
behalf, when sick and destitute in an enemy's prison. 

A careful reading of what he has written will greatly 
assist the reader in correctly appreciating the book. 
Though I am quite sure that some Southerners will con- 
demn the spirit of the work as being too nearly loyal, I 
hope it will meet the approbation of the mass, and I feel 
that it will be calculated, in many cases, to form bonds 
of friendship where hearts are now callous. If so, I 
have added a mite to the welfare and happiness of man- 
kind, and am satisfied. AUTHOE. 

St. Louis, March, 1870. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Having read the manuscript of this volume, and 
having been an eye-witness of the scenes whicli the 
author relates, I take great pleasure in commending it 
to the public generally, but particularly to those who 
were unfortunate participants in the horrors of the long 
imprisonment at Johnson's Island. 

Time can never ei-ase from the memory of any one 
of the latter class the prominent scenes of prison life 
in which he may have participated; yet, to many, the 
minor details, the humorous, the painful, the cruel, the 
oppressive experiences must have been lost in the im- 
memorial past through the friction of every day life 
if the diligent hand of Capt. Wash had not embalmed 
them as they transpired. 

To those who witnessed what is here related this 
volume will prove a source of great satisfaction and 
amusement. The materials from which this book has 
been collated were jotted down just as the scenes 
transpired, for the daily journal of the author recalls 
almost the entire period from June, 1863, to the close 
of the war. 



VI INTEODUCTION. 

To an outsider, who never had the misfortune to be 
locked up for safe keej)ing in modern bastiles, or to be 
guarded, not by angels, but by relentless brutes, who, 
.afraid of the battle field, volunteered to guard prisoners, 
because all the shooting could be on one side, a peep 
inside is furnished and a slight glimpse of what we 
experienced. To us, the former prisoners, the old, 
gloomy past will be re-enacted, and faces, long since 
grown dim on the canvass of memory, will be retouched 
into their former freshness. We will stand again within 
those plank walls, see familiar forms, hear the laugh of 
the merr}" and the complaint of the sad-hearted — in 
fact, live over again the strangely mingled life of which 
it is a sketch. Who can not even yet recall the varied 
emotions experienced by the incarcerated patriot as'he 
listened to the tale of defeat, greedily related and largely 
embellished ? Who can fail to remember how keen the 
anguish realized as we heard of the want, suffering and 
ruin of the land we loved better than life? 

Who can know, save those who were there, how the 
heart sunk when grim despair, like the head of Medusa, 
chilled the soul into stone at the contemplation of our 
home and loved ones given to merciless aliens and 
strangers, and we iinable to raise a-n arm to save those 
precious treasures? 

Prison life as seen from the author's stand-point and 
from mine were vastly different. His was exceptional, 
mine was the common lot of a vast majority of the 
three thousand Confederate officerson Johnson's Island. 

He was more fortunate than many in being so close 
to family and dear fi-iends who had influence with those 



INTEODUCTION. VII 

in authority. To him came many a box laden with 
turkeys, chickens, hams and sweetmeats, obtained 
through an arrangement with the man Scovill, who is 
mentioned in these pages as prison provost. But to 
thousands, who were total strangers in an enemy's 
country, far removed from the sunny land of their 
birth, who were unskilled in wire-working, and depend- 
ent solely on the rations issued by their keepers, there 
was but little fun and less poetry in those sad years. 
The class to which the author belonged could hear 
almost daily from home and friends, thus affording 
relief from the fears which long months of silence begat 
in the minds of many who were less fortunate. There 
were hundreds of our miserable associates, who, cap- 
tured in midsummer, with the light and insufficient 
clothing furnished by a hard pressed and closely block- 
aded government, suffered untold misery amidst the 
rigors of the winter of '63 and '64. 

No one of all the vast number confined there at that 
time can have forgotten the intense cold of that in- 
clement island, located in the open plane of Lake Erie 
and bordering on the shores of Canada. Insufficient 
clothing, shelter, food and medicine sent scores of vic- 
tims to the grave. As success crowned the armies of 
the North their severity toward the prisoners increased, 
and, as the prospect lessened, to many, of getting a 
chance at rebels on the open and honestly contested 
field of battle, an itching desire grew to kill the un- 
armed and defenseless. 

The avaricious officer who issued rations shared with 



VIII INTEODUCTION. 

the contractor and grew rich upon the bread and beef 
denied to starving rebels. 

For a short time we were guarded by soldiers who 
had earned the name of veterans — the buck-tails of 
Pennsylvania and others — who, under the gallant lead- 
ership of such men as Long, Sedgwick, Hancock, Meade 
and others, grappled, in dreadful carnage, with the 
grand old army of Northern Yirginia, led by such men • 
as Lee, Jackson, Johnston, Longstreet, Hill, Early, &c,, 
names forever immortal in the memory of man. These 
knew how to treat the brave, whose misfortune it was 
to be prisoners. Those gallant and chivalrous men did 
their duty as guards, but showed to us, and that too in 
broad contrast to the Hoffman Battalion, how the brave 
can be generous. On both sides, doubtless, the stay at 
homes and the shirks, who were prison guards, knew 
how to be cruel to a degree that curses them forever. 
It is to be hoped that their names are not remembered, 
so that no recoi-d shall stand in time against them. 

This book will furnish valuable material to the future 
historian, who will pen the more complete accounts of 
those "stirring times." It will be but the beginning 
of a series which will show up the hitherto silent side 
of " Prison Life during the "War." 

If we would have a just verdict from the grand juries 
of coming generations, to whom will be submitted the 
conduct of both parties to the late war, it is necessary 
that, not only a cursory view of Johnson's Island prison 
be had, but that a minute detail of it, as also of those 
miserable pens, Alton Penitentiary, Camp Douglas, 



INTEODUCTIOK. IX 

Camp Chase, Eock Island and Elmira, be placed by the 
side of the exaggerations about Libby, Belle Isle, Tyler 
and Andersonville. 

The resources of each section must be fully canvassed 
and a dispassionate portrayal be given of the spirit that 
characterized both governments in their dealings with 
the unarmed and defenseless. -If the North has nothing 
to lose by such an investigation, certainly the South 
has everything to gain. 

The style of the author of this volume is purposely 
homely and peculiar, intended fully to revive the fading 
memories of which it is a description. If fastidious 
taste shall be disposed to term it "vulgar" and out of 
place, let it be known that the writer intended not only 
to recount the transactions and experiences of army 
and prison life, but to carry the reader back to the 
very times themselves by using the peculiar patois, if I 
may so call it, of the soldier. 

Captain Wash has rendered, to his old associates at 
least, a service which must be highly appreciated by 
them. It will serve not only to give pleasure and in- 
struction, but to recall to the minds of many readers 
much which they had otherwise finally forgotten, thus 
securing, if each will take pains to note down his re- 
miniscences, a full and complete account of our impris- 
onment. 

I most heartily commend this book to those who have 
a personal interest in its narrations. Many a one will 
delight to con its pages, from the relative connection 
they sustained to the sufferers. 



X INTKODUOTIOISr. 

To some it will bring many a merry laugh, to others 
the tears of yet iinconsoled sorrow for the dear dead 
ones who still sleep on that inhospitable coast. 

May God bless the survivors and grant to the bereaved 
that consolation which comes alone from the God of all 
comfort. L. M. LEAVIS. 

Arcadia, Mo., March, 1870. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

At Vicksburg, in April, 1S63 — March to the Front; Clothina; and Papers Lost: 
Thrilling^ incidents; Country, Climate, Seasons and People of Mississippi; 
Out among the Farmers; Army Movements Brisk; Conflict with Iron- 
clails; Almost an Execution ; Enemy's Intentions Evident ; Fiddle&Fun; 
More Iron-clads ;■ May Campnij^n Opens ; Bowen at Port Hudson; Out- 
post Duty; Musquitos t)^?-j;i5 Rebels; Steal a March on the Boys; Gun- 
boats versus Water Batteries; Dinner with a Contraband; Stonewall 
Jackson Dead, &c, 

CHAPTER n. 

Reflections; Pleasant Jaunt; Commissary Supplies; Preparing- to Evacuate; 
Biar Black Bridge; Edward's Depot; Battle of Baker's Creek; All import- 
ant Document too Late; Fight at Big Black; Surrender; Dinner with a 
Federal Officer; Why Defeated; Blue Coats and Gray Commingle; Van- 
dalism; A Fancy Shoulder Strapper and 1; Edward's Depot again; Patent 
Cooking; Confiscation; Big Black once more; Noble Women ; "Chicka- 
saw" Battle Field; Yazoo Landing; Young's Point, La.; The Contra- 
bands; Northward Bound ; Scenery on the Mississippi ; Napoleon, Ark.; 
Elliott's Marine Brigade; Dead Prisoner Consigned to the Waves, &c. 

CHAPTER in. 

Memphis; Gov. and Adj't. Gen. of Iowa; Pleasant Meeting; Fort Pillow; 
Island No. 10; Monotonous Scenery; All about Cairo; Gen. Buford, U. 
S. A.; Passenger Cars for Rebel Oflicers; A Gymnastic Feat Dixieward; 
Natives flock in to see Johnny Rebs; The Ladies and Copperheads ; Terre 
.Haute; Muss with a Dirty Dutchman : Indianapolis Then and Now; Our 
Reception; Soldier's Home; Visitors and Incidents; Railroad Metropolis; 
Passage through Ohio; Sandusky City; Our Home in the Distance; 
Strange Feelings. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Over the Bay; Sail Crafts; Head Quarters ; Funds or no Funds; The Place 
and the Garrison ; Sandusky; Exterior Survey; In Prison ; Thoughts ; First 
Thing Done; Who We Found There; Rebels shot and Others under Sen- 



XII CONTENTS. 

tence; "VallandiEfham ; First Sunday in Prison; Preaching; Dress Pande; 
What Next? My Watch in Pawn ; Sutler; Washing; Day ; Ring Making; 
Prisoners Arrive ; Still They Come ; Touching Incident ; Lt. Read Dead; 
Galvanized Rebels; Kxchange; Baltimore Merchants ; Lee, Rragg, and 
the Southwest; Loyallnconsistency ; Meade, the 7th Commander; Differ- 
ence in Northern and Southern Armies ; Money from Home; Fourth of 
Tuly; Divine Service; Gen. Archer and others from Gettysburg; My Ring 
Disaster; Sky Rockets and Cannon; John Morgan's Raid, &c. 



CHAPTER V. 

My first box from home ; Cannonading Across the Lake ; Foaming white Caps ; 
Peculiarities of Prison Life; The Morgan Boys ; Gunboat Michigan; Iron- 
clad I'rowess Defunct; Lee and Meade; Rebellion Most Dead ( ?); Siege 
ot Vicksburg; Woman's Worth ; Alabama Officers in Luck ; Olden Times 
Made New ; Foreign Intervention ; Grand Proposition to the South ; Four 
Hundred Veterans from l^ee's Army; Thoughts and Talk of Escape; 
Smuggling Letters ; Sutlers' Department; Our Mess Reinforced by Twenty 
Dollars; Northern Press; Death in Prison; Hospital Scenes; Morgan 
Raiders Arrive; Crittenden, Dead; Jolin Morgan in Federal Clutches; His 
Achievements; One Hundred and Sixty Rebellonians from Port Hudson; 
Prison Scenes; Retrospective Look, &c. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Gloomy Prospect; Cartel Broken; Bone of Contention ; Prison Scene; Off for 
the Penitentiary; Siege of Charleston; Mobile: True Friendship; One 
Hundred Gallant Sons trom the Old Dominion; Eccentric Minister; 
Domestic blatters ; Going Home; Conscripts; Hidden Fire; Our Possible 
Destiny; Contrast between the Naval Fleets; Why the Disparity in our 
Favor; Kentucky Election; Despotism; Inhuman Federal Officers; 
Changeable Weather; Yancey is Dead; Ourselves and our Friends; 
Soldiei's Life; Two Years from Home; Then and Now; Fast Day; Pay 
Day; Capt. Law; New Pump; Lt. Kirby Smith; Northern Extract; Two 
Suits of Gray from Louisville; Manners and Customs in Prison; Cele- 
brated Characters ; Youngblood, Brantly, &c.; Prison Scenes and Prison 
Ways; Daily Routine; Captives from Helena; Col. Johnson's Jewels; 
Alton Prison; Sunning Day; Going after Straw; Bathing in the Lake; 
Skirmish with the Pump, &c. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Kycursion Party; Preaching; Col. Lewis; Who are in the Penitentiary at 
Alleghany City, Pa.; Profession Life in our Midst; Lt. Minor and his 
Drinkables; No More Boots; Laid Away; Rebels Arrive; Mr. I^iiicoln's 
Intention; Sutler Enlarging; Washing Day; The Rebel that didn't go out 
in a Slop Barrel; The Loyal Folks want us back in the l^nion, and Why; 
Political Parties; Brantly and Universalism ; Prayer Meeting; The Sisters 
of 1-t. Brand; The Alabama; My Way of Cooking; Town Ball; Pi ison 
Scenes; Mv Facilities for Writing; Fashions Among Us; Hard-shell 
Sermon; Old Pap; Reflections; Theoretical versus Practical Knowledge 
of Persons and Things; What our Ministers Pray For; Retrospect; 
Mental Rehearsal; Chain of Memories ; Our Prospects; Panorama of War; 
What the North Thinks and what the South Thinks, &c. 



CONTENTS. XIII 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Almost Two Years since the Last Chapter was Written ; "Why the Original 
Manuscript was Written ; My Present Quarters; Why in Jail; Long Chain 
of Events; Grave Charge; Before a Magistrate; Article in Jonesboro paper 
headed "Arrest of the notorious Capt. Wasli;" Renegades; Tlie Sequel 
Not Yet; Kindly Cared For; Bad State of Affairs; A Look Around Me; 
Thoughts of 1S64; Memorable Cold Day; Four Confederates off for 
Canada; The Result; Death of Col. Cluke, of Kentucky; Blockade of Ice; 
Express Matter; Dead House; Plot Nipped in the Bud; Five Hundred 
Prisoners Ordered for Exchange; Act of Federal Kindness; Sutler Closed 
Out; Our Fuel; Exit Rebels; Re-enter Rebels; Papers Suppressed from 
Prison ; Rebel Kicked out of Prison ; Removal and Escape ; Sermon by 
Col. Lewis; Death of Capt. Barnes; The Masons, a word in their behalf; 
My Bunk iNIate Takes the Small Pox; Inspection by U. S. A. Surgeon; 
Prison Guard Increased at Night; Col. Pierson's Prison Report from Organ- 
ization up to Date; Grand Snow Battle; Gen. M. Jeft". Thompson Cap- 
tured; My Frencli; Judge Breare; The Owner of our Island; Heavy 
Dixie Mail; Its Contents, &c. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Fourth of July, 1865; My Enemies and I; Celebration; No Secesh; Poor Beef; 
Major ScoviUe; Jas'. B. Clay Dead; Death of a Choctaw Captain; Dr. 
Foster and the Bitters; Sharo Practice; Stir in Prison, Four Hundred 
Sent Off; A Joke on Some Who Staved; Southern I^eague; Col. D. 
Howard Smith on Parole; Lt. Alexander takes the Oath; Mountains of 
Ice; Blockade Described; Two Ladies in Prison; Rings and Autograph 
Albums; Confederate Captain Disgraced; Gen. Shaler; A Night in the 
Hospital; 22d February; Brantley's Rat, my share; Col. Lyle a Rebel, a 
Yankee aftd a Rebel Again; Revival; Promenading; Puerile Order; 
Arkansas Travelers; Conversion of Prisoners; Federal Chaplain; Short 
Rations; New Furniture; Lamp Broken Over Sutler's Head, and Why; 
Starchy Federal Popped in the Back and Don't Like It; A Good Old Capt. 
Praying in the Hospital; Col. Printup's Box; Nothing Lost by Kindness; 
Delicious Pudding; Escaped and Captured; Money Makes the Mare Go; 
Crowd at Sutler Shop; Kentucky and Baltimore Ladies, &c. 



CHAPTER X. 

Sub-Sutlers; April Fool's Day; Good Joke on Maj. Stewart, of Ark.; Dancing 
School; New Occupations; Southern Thanksgiving Day; "AsaHartz;" 
Ladies from Kentucky; Galvanized Rebels; Camp Morton; Warm Times 
in Northern Congress; Not Captured on the Battle Field; Rebellonians; 
Prison Strategy; Dr. Woodbridge, U, S. A. ; Dixie Mail; Rugged Lake; 
French Letter; Fun; Tunnels; Ditch; Lt. Williams, U. S. A. : Torchlight 
Procession; Dr. Brantley and Co. Trying to Bribe Sentinel; How the Dr. 
gothis Title; Gen. Shaler in Rebel Prison ; Muster and Inspection; Gen. 
J. E. B. Stuart killed; Fish, Butter and Eggs; Prisoners frorn Johnson's 
Army; Hawthorne and Giddings dead ; Attempt to Scale the Wall ; Tun- 
nels; Qiiarters Searched; Result, &c. 

CHAPTER XI. 

June ist, 1S64; Our French; Lt. Tobey; Long Letters Forbidden; Under- 
ground Railroads ; Col. Hill Excites Rebel Indignity; No more Coffee, 
Sugar or Candles; Box from Mrs. Lillard; Morgan Turns up Again; Grant 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Changing- his Base; Vallandigham back in Ohio; Swimming in the Lake; 
Five Daily Papers in Our Room; Gen. Polk Killed; Gold 22610235; 
Gen. Archer sent off; Secesh Arrive; Capt Jonas on Parole, and Why ; 
Seven Surgeons Sent South ; My Sclioolniate ; Lt. H. M. Baldwin, U.S. A.; 
Geo. M. Steever, the Youngest of our Class; Southern Gentry Aim to 
Scratch out; Disagreeable Roommate; Sentinel shoots a Ditch instead ol" a 
Rebel; July 4th; The Alabama Sunk: Box from Home; Thoughts; Prison 
Wall Moved Back; Talk About Rebelling; Prison Gardens; The Oath 
After Dark; A Dutchman's Order; p'ifiy Dollars from Home; Gen. Trim- 
ble; Circulating Library; Lt. Brown; Col. Boynton, U. S. A.; Chair 
Factory; Two Prisoners Wounded by Sentinel; A Dark Hour; Pro- 
gramme of Concert Given by Rcbellonians, fcc. 



CHAPTER XII. 

August — Arrival of Prisoners ; Maj. Dick Person; A Dozen Surgeons Sent 
South; Bold and Successful Attempt to Escape by Lt. Murphy: Rebels in 
Blue Follow Out Sand Wagon ; Value of Worn-out Blue Pants; Eleven 
Southerners Ride out on Two Wagons ; Adjutant Newman as a Yankee ; Lt. 
Selecman Trapped ; Loyal Troops Skirmishing forSeceshers ; Seventeen Cap- 
tured First Haul; Guard at the Gate; Prayer Meeting; " Fresh Fish; " Col. 
Baxter, C. S. A., as a Major U. S. A.; Cruel Order from Commissary Gen- 
eral; Fuel Added to the Fire; Three Southern Gents Crawl Down a Slop 
Ditch; Lt. Dudley; How Lt. Clark and I confiscated numerous Plank and 
what we did with it; Our Study finished and described; French and Span- 
ish ; Cheating the Yankees; Ugliness Sometimes a Virtue; Rebel Hung; 
Ratastrophe Described; Col. Fite, President of the " Rat Club; " Exciting 
Era; Heavy Slain: Our Modus Operandi; Raid on Hospital Woodpile; 
Col. Lewis Gone; Escaped and Caught; The Washing Business; Capt. 
Furnish and Lt. Maris in a Muss over a Rat; Sequel, &c. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

"Pro Bono Publico" McClellan Nominated; We Indifferent; Golden Rule ; 
Memorable Occasion; Graphic Description of a Tornado; Prison Scenes; 
Rich Jokes; Nothing but the Lord's Prayer ; Thompson's Christmas Tur- 
key; All About It; A Rich Affair: Short Rations; Fight in Prison; Privi- 
leges of Our Cook; Pleasant Surprise; How a Rebel Got to Canada ; Col. 
Printup in Luck; About tlie Prison Officers; How and Why We Played 
Possum; Lt. Wilson, who will Appear on' the Stage Again; Generals 
Removed from Our Prison; Studying Spanish in our Studio; Our Room 
in Luck; Gens. Marmaduke and Cabell Arrive; A Good Soldier Dead; 
What Breckinridge Did for Gillem; Reign of I'errorin Kentucky; Cotton; 
Gen. Beall; Col. Fite Promoted; Sherman's March to the Sea, &c. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Hot Weather in Jail; My Relative Situation; I Think Much but Say Little; 
Dec. 1st, 1864; Battle at Franklin, Tenn.; Southern Chivalry Scratch Out; 
End of Block 1; Death of Col Matlock, of Arkansas; How We Profited 
by Somebody being Three Sheets in the Wind; Memorable Occasion ; Out- 
break; Lieut. Boles Killed; Gen. Beall's Circular ; Our Share of the Mobile 
Cotton; Port Holes in the Wall and Forts on the Island; Inspection of 
Blankets, and How We Juggled; Thief in Prison; Two Hundred and 
Eighty of Hood's Officers Arrive; Colonel Printup Dines with a Federal 
Major; Colonel Mike Woods; Fish in the Dab; Rebels Apply to Work on 
Forts; Gold 216; My Spanish Grammar Finished; Prospects; Good-bye 
1S64; All About Wilson's Chicken, &c. 



CONTENTS. XV 



CHAPTER XV. 

1865; Genoral Remarks; Why Prison Life was not Unhappy for Me; Grant 
Authorized to Exchange; Federal Policy; its Cruelty, its Results; Ex- 
change Begins; Feelings in Prison; Two Plundred Rebel Officers Shipped; 
Scenes and Thoughts; Still They G(?; INlodus Operandi; My Time Comes; 
How I Felt; On the Outside; Passage over the Bay; On the Ice, and Inci- 
dents; Across Oliio; "No Use Grieving over Spilt Milk"; Mansfield, 
Ohio; Pittsburg; Through the AUeghanies ; Our Finances; Happy Family; 
Juniata Valley; Old Friend in the Shape of a Bridge; Mufflintown, Pa. ; 
Harrisburg; Pies and Pretty Giils at York, Pa.; Anti-Triumphal March 
through Baltimore; The Dear Ladies; Beast-like Federal Officer; At the 
Wharf; Down Chesapeake Bay; Historic Scenes; City Point; Up the 
James; Our Steamship; My Adventures among the Sailors ; Twenty Dollars 
for Breakfast; Our Federal Escort; Scenes on Shipboard; Pleasant Parting; 
Harrison's Landing; Confederate Flag ol Truce Boat; Colonel Mulford a 
Generous Foe; Unfurling of a Hidden Flag; Passage over Historic Space; 
Arrival at the Confederate Capital, &c. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Disappointed, and Why; Spottswood Hotel; Colonel Leathers; On Parole 
Furlough; Wages Paid and Balance Due Me; Richmond Theater; Libby 
Prison; How IFelt Toward the Inmates; Confederate Capital; President 
Davis and General Lee; All Sober; Adieu to Richmond; FJurksville; 
Pleasing Incident; Round tlie Jolly Camp Fire; Bound West; Unexpected 
Meeting; I-ynchburg Excited, and Why; An Order from the War Depart- 
ment, and how it was Evaded; Wytheville; Our Luck at Glade Springs; 
Wicked Bedfellow; Abingdon; Bristol; General Vaughan and Others; 
Off for Carter's Depot; Johnson's Depot; A Circuit of Three Thousand 
Miles Complete, &c. 

CHAPTER XVn. 

The Future Looks Brighter; Pleasant Associations in Jonesboro; March in 
Retreat; Parting to^Meet no More; Up the Holston ; Miss Kate Worley; 
Bound for Old Virginia; Why not in the Army; Blue Spring; Dry Creek 
Gap; Incidents; We Part; Rev. David SuUins and Major John Sanders; 
Work in the Garden and Make Chicken Coops; Happy Times; Fishing for 
Trout; Pleasant Meeting; Lead Mines; Religious Community ; Good joke 
on Myself; Confederate Armies Surrendered and President Lincoln Killed; 
Sad Farewell; Washington Springs; Why I Laid Over; War Incident; 
Marriage at a Strange Hour; Blountville Then and Now; Jonesboro Again ; 
In the Midst of Unknown Dangers; Fiendish Spirit; Jail Life Incidents; 
Good Friends all Round; Dr. Bill Sketer Smith; My Uncle Arrives; Our 
First Greeting; Colonel Brown, U. S. A.; Dr. Joe Clark and Sergeant 
Garber; The Dear Women; Almost a Good Time; The Bright Side of 
Prison Life ; I'm Almost Free. 

CONCLUSION. 

Leaving Jail; Dark Ride; Bull's Gap; Old Friends; Was the Meeting Acci- 
dental; No; Why Preconcerted; What about the Bail; Gross Outrage; 
Barking up the Wrong Tree; Homeward Bound; Safe Arrival ; The Coun- 
try Along the Route; Meager Sketch; All Lost; Not Sorry; No Peace 
Yet; My Hopes Realized; Reflections; Verdict of the Reader; Conclusion. 



CAMP, FIELD AP PRISON LIFE. 



CHAPTER I. 

Johnson's Island, near Sandusky, Ohio, \ 
July 10, 18GS. J 

From the 1st of October last I have kept a 
minute diary of our camps, travels and the inci- 
dents connected therewith, from time to time 
writing them down in a somewhat connected nar- 
rative, in a journal I had prepared for that pur- 
pose. In Octoher, 1862, we — that is, Vaughn's 
Tennessee Brigade — were camped near the west- 
ern border of Virginia ; in April following we 
were in the vicinity of Vicksburg, Miss., having 
traveled diagonally through Tennessee, Georgia, 
Alabama and Mississippi, tarrying a while at 
Knoxville, Montgomery, Mobile, Jackson and 
Grenada. 

E'o one except a soldier knows how many inci- 
dents crowd into a 1,200 mile military trij) through 
the South. Often, while at Vicksburg, I derived 
great pleasure from going back and reading over 
the occurrences that took place before we left 



18 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISO?^ LIFE. 

Tennessee, and I could imagine liow mncli greater 
the pleasure would Idg in tlie great future, when 
all this strife is only in song and story, to rehearse 
the scenes and deeds of a wonderful era. I had 
my journal "written up to within the month of 
April, and the tale consumed some fifty pages, 
descriptive of matters and things in general 
along our route, and about the cities in which 
we stoi:)ped. 

" Martial circumstances " and increased activity 
in "war business" caused me to cease my .scrib- 
bling, and leave my all, except war implements 
and a single blanket, to go and try the stern 
realities of the field, where I was soon to see 
the foe. As was too often the case, ne'er more 
did we return to that camp. Many sacrificed 
their heart's blood at the altar of liberty, and a 
host of others are, with myself, serving out a 
martyrdom, for their country's sake, in a Northern 
prison. ' 

My journal, account books, clothing, many 
highly prized letters and tokens from friends, 
all are, perhaps, now smouldering in the ruins 
and waste about Vicksburg. That was the third 
time I had lost all my clothing, and the second 
my journal, precious at least to me, by the vicis- 
situdes of war. And, though what I am now 
penning may meet the same fate ere the year is 
past and gone, still, to fill up vacant hours and to 



CAMP, FIELD AISTD PEISON LIFE. 19 

renew tlie scenes through which we have so lately 
passed, and. for the curiosity of hereafter looking 
back on prison life as it passed, I will persevere. 

I Avill go back to a thrilling occurrence near to 
the time at which my other journal ceased. 
About the middle of March our regiment changed 
the locality of its camp, very much improving 
our situation and comforts. Our camp was in an 
elliptical shaped hollow, containing some six 
acres, and surrounded on all sides, except one, by 
hills, towering above the stately poplars in the 
midst of our camp. The crest of one of the lofty 
hills that engirdled our secluded home was lined 
with brazen batteries and strong intrenchments, 
our camp being just outside of the outer line of 
defense of Vicksburg. "We had very respectable 
shanties for both officers and men, and a good 
spring within the limits of our camp. 

Everything was passing oif in the usual manner 
of camp life, till the night of March 28th, when 
we were shocked by a sudden and terrible calam- 
ity. The day had been calm and serene, and 
there was nothing in the heavens or on the earth 
portending to human vision the coming sad spec- 
tacle. About ten o'clock at night the wind com- 
menced blowing "a steady gale, and black clouds 
loomed up. For an hour it seemed that we were 
only going to have a thunder gust, but the storm 
increased and the winds howled among the thick 



20 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOISr LIFE. 

foliage of the tall trees. Not one in our camp 
dreamed of danger, till the limbs commenced 
crashing, and the huge poplars were being torn 
up by their roots in the very center of our camp. 

All was flurry and consternation. Men rushed 
wildly from their cabins in their night clothes, 
seeking eagerly a place of safety. In many cases 
the cabins were crushed into atoms before the 
men had fairly escaped. A tent occupied b}^ my 
brother and five others was torn into shreds in a 
moment after their exit. Six men were killed 
outright in one tent, and ten others injured in 
various parts of the regiment. 'Twas the most 
pitiable sight man ever beheld, to see six stalwart 
men lying side by side, mangled and bruised, in 
death. We buried them side by side on a neigh- 
boring hill. Never did a conflagration or tornado 
leave a more desolate and gloomy scene than was 
presented by our once jbeautiful camp. It required 
several days to clear up our camping ground so 
as to make it even passable. 

About the 1st of February orders were issued 
from headquarters for officers to be sent home on 
recruiting service. I sent R. A. Anderson, my 
orderly sergeant, as being most suitable, because 
of energy and j^erseverance. On the 29th of ]\larch 
he returned with twelve men and no less than 
thirty boxes of provisions, and some clothing and 
a host of letters for the boys. Never was there 



CAMP, FIELD Al^D PRISON LIFE. 21 

more joy over the return of a stray child than 
then. 

The provisions were prized more highly than 
gold, for onr rations had for some time been slim, 
both in quality and quantity, and, besides, they 
were from the loved ones at home. That night at 
roll call the boj^s raised a lively yell, which they 
had not done before for weeks. The letters were 
anxiously perused and treasured away in the 
hearts and knapsacks of the fortunate recipients. 
Though I held no claims on any one for favors, I 
too was not forgotten. Mrs. Gray sent me a nice 
box of eatables, old Mrs. Winniford and Mrs. 
Bouldin each a ham, and I got no less than four- 
teen letters on every imaginable subject. The 
reasonable ones I answered and complied with 
their wislies, the rest I consigned to the flames. 
It may be well to say here that I was a Kentuck- 
ian, serving with Tennessee troops. Before the 
war I had never known a member of my company 
or regiment, nor a citizen of the region from which 
they came — East Tennessee. 

Before taking up the incidents of April, I will 
go back and say a word of thes country, climate, 
seasons and people. Those who live far away 
from Mississippi, and only know of it from history 
and the appearance and stories of those who live 
there, will And themselves deceived when they 
visit that boasted land. True, there is much good 



22 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISOlSr LIFE. 

soil, mncli wealth, intelligence and patriotism 
amongst her people, but there are many qualities 
wanting to make it suit the tastes of those who 
live further North. 

The great difference in temperature in the day 
and at night, the days being quite sultry and the 
nights most always chilly, is anything but pleas- 
ant or healthy to one used to a more "uniform 
clime. The changes of temperature are very sud- 
den, one day being melting hot, the next wintry 
and disagreeable. The seasons are very much 
more forward tliere than at my Kentucky home. 
About the middle of February the first signs of 
spring begin to appear, and by the middle of 
March the whole forest is in a full garb of green, 
and the ladies have nearly all their garden stuff 
planted. Roses and peach trees bloom in Feb- 
ruary, and by the 1st of March many of the 
farmers have finished planting their corn. Strange 
to say, but few of them have yet learned how to 
rightly cultivate corn; they prepare the ground 
badly, and put in too much for their force, which 
is not the secret of success. 

For a month succeeding the middle of February 
I was in the country, recovering from a threatened 
attack of fever. I visited various planters, and 
had an opportunity of getting into the minutije of 
their social, agricultural and commercial relations. 
I SEiw a great many things that grated uj)on my 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 23 

ideas of riglit and wrong. I boarded with Capt. 
Wall, who was generous-hearted and did all he 
could for my comfort ; but the old lady was too 
particular, penurious and. curious. Their daugh- 
ter, a young grass widow, was kind and obliging, 
but, like her mamma, the almighty dollar clung 
too close to her aifections. They were well otf, 
and had a good library, to which and the parlor 
I had free access, so I passed the time off very 
agreeably. 

While there I formed the acquaintance of sev- 
eral quite pleasant ladies, and, as they belonged 
rather to the aristocracy, I took especial pleasure 
in letting them know, in a manner nol; calculated 
to give offense, my opinions of that class of 
humanity. They generally agreed with me, but 
sometimes we gave each other sharp cuts. I have 
met with some as kind and worthy people in 
Mississippi as anywhere in my travels. One 
can not now get a fair representation of what the 
State is, for most all the truly gallant and patriotic 
men are long since in the service of their country. 
As a general thing, only speculators and those 
without conscience or self-respect remain at home. 
They respect the soldier and will aid him only so 
long as his money lasts. 

Come, April showers, April flowers, and April 
with thy verdant garb, and let us, ere smiling ]\f ay 
is upon us, record the mighty events that were 



24 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON" LIFE. 

wrapped up in thy bosom. A seeming cessation 
of activity, and apparent stillness between two 
armies confronting each other, is often indicative 
of strategical moves, and such was the case before 
Vicksbnrg during the first days of April. The 
enemy's Heet had measurably moved out of sight ; 
no gunboats attempted the passage of our bat- 
teries, and their motions 'fairly indicated that they 
were about to strike anchor and be off for Mem- 
phis. 

During the 10th and llth of April the enemy 
were making moves which we could not exactly 
comprehend, and evidently not intended for our 
good. Many of their transports steamed up the 
river. Some few, accompanied by iron clads, 
were reconnoitering in the Yazoo river, and some 
troops were moving back into Louisiana. Our 
Generals had a sharp eye on it all, and orders 
were issued that we must be ready to go at a 
moment's warning. At two o'clock on the night 
of the 14tli we were aroused from slumber and 
ordered to cook four days' rations immediately. 
At daylight everything was ready, and our little 
tricks packed up to go whithersoever ordered. 
All day long did we, in suspense, await orders to 
move. ^ Next morning there came an order to keep 
two days' cooked rations on hand, and await fur- 
ther orders. 

The Federal move was soon explained, for on 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 25 

the niglit of the 16th, just at twelve o'clock, the 
booming of the signal gun on the river told us 
the gunboats were coming. In ten minutes our 
regiment was in line, and we posted away to the 
scene, for it was predicted that the enemy might 
attempt to land troops under the cover of their 
gunboats. By the time we reached the theater of 
action, one mile off, the incessant peals of from 
forty to fifty heavy siege guns at our water 
batteries shook the earth, and made the air rever- 
berate for miles around. Eleven boats started to 
run the gauntlet ; two were sunk in front of the 
city, many of their crews going under, and one 
was disabled but floated beyond the range of our 
batteries. They hurled broadsides of shot and 
shell into the city as they passed, doing no dam- 
age except killing six mules. That was the most 
successful of the several attempts General Grant 
made to pass our fortress. 

Some time in March, a soldier belonging to the 
61st Tennessee regiment, who attempted to desert 
and go to the enemy, was caught, and sentenced 
by a general court-martial to be shot April 17th, 
in the presence of our brigade. On that day, at 
ten o'clock, we were ordered to repair to the jDlace 
of execution, but on the way were met by a 
courier, saying the day of execution was post- 
poned, by order of General Pemberton. The 6th 
of March we had witnessed the execution of two 



26 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOTi LIFE. 

men for mutiny. They met their fate like martyrs, 
and said it was just. 

I believe it was the 20th of April that one of 
my sergeants, who had been to the country to get 
some clothes washed, brought me a beautiful 
bouquet, which he said was handed him by an 
unknown lady. It was culled with taste and 
exquisitely arranged, but I dreamed not of the 
source till I drew a slip of gilt-edged paper from 
the mass, and found, " Compliments of Miss C. 
to Captain "W." I had seen her but once ; 'twas 
a freak of woman's nature. 

Just before daylight of the 23d, six more of the 
Federal fleet, five transports and one iron-clad, 
attempted to pass the " Rubicon." The transports 
were partially protected by cotton and hay bales, 
but the searching and galling fire of our batteries 
sunk one, the " Henry Clay," and the rest were so 
riddled that they had to lay up several days at a 
landing below the city. The gunboat is, perhaps, 
yet quietly reposing in the bed of the Mississippi 
in front of Vicksburg. There were no longer 
reasons for doubt as to the intentions of the 
enemy. From the hights around Vicksbui-g we 
could see wagon trains moving down the river on 
the Louisiana side, and the camps of the foe, so ■ 
long in our view, were disappearing. The trans- 
ports were being run down to get them over the 
river below Vicksburg. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOIN' LIFE. 27 

I was, on the 24tli April, appointed by General 
Yaiiglm on a board of snrvey to examine army 
clothing, to be issued to the troops. Most of the 
pants were of goods manufactured at Lexington, 
Ky., and brought out by General E. Kirby Sn^th 
in the tail of 1862. The last day of April General 
Vaughn had an order issued that neither soldier 
nor officer should leave camp without written 
authority from his headquarters. That same 
evening one of my friends had been a short dis- 
tance in the country to see his sweetheart, and 
she told him that Lieut. Billy R. and Jim B. 
would be there that night to play the violin, and 
requested that he and I should be present. We 
studied and calculated between the good to be 
done by obeying the order and the pleasure to be 
derived from going. The fiddle out-balanced, so, 
as the shades of night came o'er us, we took a 
stroll in the opiDOsite direction, but landed at Mr. 
C.'s. Presently the boys came, but no fiddle. 
We fixed up and sent for a violin, pretending that 
it was to play in another part of the camp. In 
the meantime. Miss Mollie and Miss Henrietta 
happened in. We at first hinted and at last 
plainly asserted to the old folks that music was 
of no account without dancing, and after a little 
coaxing all round, they succumbed. The silvery 
I'ays of the full moon, which was then just in the 
zenith, made the night beautiful. We danced 



28 CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISOX LIFE. 

beneath an arbor in front of the house, and were 
having a most splendiferous time, till the exit of 
April and the incoming of May reminded us that 
it was time to be away. We crept stealthily into 
camp, and were up next morning at break of day, 
no one suspecting that we had been absent, nor 
did the secret ever leak far out. So you see a 
soldier may sometimes, if he will, have as fine 
times as anybody. But I have got ahead of the 
hounds. At broken intervals all through the day 
of the 28tli heavy firing could be heard in the 
direction of Grand Gulf, thirty miles down the 
river. That night three gunboats attempted the 
passage of our frowning batteries, and one of 
them was badly used up. 

The next day the enemy, with a half-dozen iron- 
clads and some twenty transports, loaded with 
troops, ascended tlie Yazoo river, landed a portion 
of the troops, and commenced shelling Snyder's 
BlutT. We suspected it to be merely a ruse to 
draw our troops from other quarters, and our 
predictions proved correct, for that night they 
re-embarked, went back to their old landing at 
Young's Point, and struck out through Louisiana 
for Port Gibson. The gunboats stayed and bom- 
barded Snyder's Bluff heavily ail the succeeding 
day. Some days previous, the bulk both of the 
Federal army and ours had left, and were march- 



CAMP, FIELD AKD PKISOX LIFE. 29 

ing toward Port Gibson, on either side of the 
river. 

May 1st. — On this day began the series of battles 
which ended the 17th, resulting so disastrously to 
our arras. General Bowen met the enemy, who 
had crossed below Port Gibson, and were march- 
ing on it. He repulsed and ke^^t them back a 
whole day, but as his force was small, and Gen- 
eral Grant's whole army was coming against him, 
he cleemed it prudent to spike the unmanageable 
guns and evacuate the place, which he did on the 
morning of May 2d. There was a sharp loss on 
each side. We lost General Tracy, of Alabama, 
and General Bowen's chief of artillery. Ander- 
son's Virginia battery, having eight pieces, and 
the best equipped I ever saw, lost fifty six horses, 
six guns and thirty-seven men. The two remain- 
ing guns were lost at Champion Hills, and but 
few men were left. 

My company was detailed on the night of May 
1st to go on out]3ost guard, in the intrenchments 
at the bend of the river above Vicksburg. This 
had been a nightly duty for our brigade ever since 
tlie Yankee fleet made its appearance in the latter 
part of January. Rain or shine, hot or cold, some 
of us had to lie in the ditches every night, so that 
it had become commonplace. This night was 
warm and pleasant, and it was quite as agreeable 
there as in camp. We placed our guns in proper 



30 CAMP, FIELD AXD PEISOX LIFE. 

]3lace in case of an alarm, listened to and chatted 
awhile about the booming cannon at Port Gibson, 
then spread our blankets and laid us down for a 
good night's sleep. 

At the hour of midnight we were aroused from 
our slumbers by the heavy tread of troops cross- 
ing a bridge not far from us. They passed directly 
by us, going, as we supposed, to Port Gibson, and 
the boys were in high spirits ; they had heard the 
rattle of musketrj^ before. It was General Moore's 
brigade, which had just come from the Yazoo and 
Deer Creek country. The next evening we had 
to go on picket duty, in front of Chickasaw Bayou. 
Though no enemy was visible in that direction, 
we thought it best to guard against any emer- 
genc}^ Our picket line was over a mile long, and 
it was no fun posting and instructing sentinels. 
The days were then getting hot enough to kill a 
fat man, and at night tlie mosquitoes were far 
more terrible than anticipated Yankee shells and 
bullets. 

Just now there was a grand move in our whole 
army. All the troops that had been stationed 
around Snyder's Bluff had orders to go below that 
evening. At dusk the column commenced pass- 
ing our post, and for three long hours they filed 
by, three brigades and several smaller detach- 
ments going. The artillery, which can move faster 
than infantry, struck camp before day, and away 



CAMP, FIELD Al^D PRISON LIFE. 31 

tliey went lumbering down tlie valley. The 3d 
Maryland battery was camped near our picket 
post, and left at sunrise. We began to feel kinder 
ticklish, for we knew not of any brigade save our 
own that was left to defend Yicksburg. At the 
same time, we felt honored by being trusted with 
so important a duty. 

Everything was now on a war footing. All 
along our picket line there was a war going on -all 
night between the boys and the mosquitoes, and 
next morning many of them reported no sleep 
but many oaths. Some blessed the critters, and 
some the Yankee nation. Xow, the great waters, 
which had for several months submerged the 
whole Chickasaw battle-field, had subsided into 
their proper channel, and were yet fast sinking, 
to the great discomfiture of the pillaging iron- 
clads. 

I worried out the night with the biters, saw all 
in proper shape next morning, which was the 
Sabbath, and as the beams of old " Sol " were 
getting well nigh perpendicular, I concluded to 
steal a march on the fellows, and go to the shade 
for a few hours, though contrary to a strict line 
of duty. I sauntered leisurely away, no one 
noticing my course, and when I had got l^alf a 
mile and on higher ground, it was cooler, and I 
was tempted to go further. On and on I went, 
through a rather rugged and constantly ascending 



32 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOlSr LIFE. 

countiy, till I suddenly came to a nice little cot- 
tage, more than a mile from my post. Knowing 
that there was a charming somebody there, and 
that I might get a good dinner, I accidentally 
happened in, to blow a few minutes. Minutes 
stretched into quarters, and quarters into two 
hours, when in came a contraband, who, w^ith 
a pleasing countenance, announced, "Dinna's 
ready." A pleasant chat, a glorious dinner, and 
then I hasted back to my post, many not knowing 
I had been absent. So the world moves. 

On being relieved from picket and going back to 
camp, we found orders to cook four days' rations. 
Times looked squally, and we went right at it, 
and in a very few hours were ready for the fray. 
We had scarcely got to bed when the booming of 
cannon said something was wrong on the river. 
Notwithstanding Ave had been constantly on duty 
three days and nights, we had to get up quickly 
and go double-quick thence. As we hurried on 
we could hear the steam rapidly escaping from a 
Federal craft. When we gained the top of the 
hill overlooking the scene of action, the object 
was in the range of our heaviest and hottest bat- 
teries. In a few minutes smoke and flame burst 
forth from the craft, the batteries ceased firing, 
and she burned to the water's edge in front of the 
city. Twenty-three out of the crew of twenty -five 
were captured, some of them being badly scalded. 



CAMP, FIELD A]SrD PRISOX LIFE. 33 

It proved to be a tiig-boat, laden with medical 
stores, with a barge on either side protected by 
cotton bales, and the two said to contain 50,000 
rations. 

That was our last experience with night visitors 
on the water. They "smelt a mice," and came 
no more. 

The morning of the 4th came, and no indications 
of an immediate move. A Aveek previous, Capts. 
Blair, Gammon and myself had made arrange- 
ments with an old negro woman, in the suburbs 
of Vicksburg, to prepare for us on this day a good 
dinner — an important desideratum to a soldier. 
We got the semi-approbation of Colonel Craw- 
ford, and went to comply with our promise, not 
forgetting to prepare for a notification if the regi- 
ment should move. The good old Auntie fixed 
up the best dinner I ever ate in Mississippi, having 
every variety of vegetables, meats and other 
things, and a splendid dessert. It only cost us 
$3.00 each ; at the Washington Hotel, the best in 
the city, dinner cost $2.00, and was not much better 
than we got in camp. 

On our way back to camp we visited the public 
cemetery, and saw many nice marble tombs and 
beautiful, shaded walks. One portion of the 
cemetery was assigned for soldiers' graves. Six 
noble youths of my company are entombed there. 
I wrote all the consoling and encouraging words 



34 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

I could to the parents of each. Some one has 
a^jpropriately said that, " when this strife ceases, 
the proudest monument that could be raised would 
he to the unrecorded dead." 

On the 5th of May glorious news came to us 
from two quarters. The lightning's flasli said 
that General Lee had defeated and driven the 
enemy back across the Rappahannock at Chancel- 
lorsville. A few hours later it said that General 
Forrest had captured a whole command, l,GOd 
cavalry, near Rome, Georgia. They were making 
a Morgan raid. The next two days were exceed- 
ingly cool and chilly, and we spent our time in 
drilling and otherwise preparing for a muss. 
Everything was as calm and quiet as though no 
armies were nigh. To add to the gloom caused 
by the weather, we got news that Stonewall Jack- 
son was dead. History will record him as the 
mightiest hero of the field. His place can not be 
filled. The nation mourns his loss. He died of 
wounds received at Chancellorsville. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 35 



CHAPTER II. 



EooM No. 19, Block 4, Depot Prisoners of War, •» 
Johnson's Island, Ohio, July IS, l-SGS. \ 

As a soldier's bark tosses about on the uncertain 
ocean of life, though there is much monotonous 
routine of rough, hard duty, and not a few unex- 
pected and ungenerous mishaps, still there is, 
now and then, an- episode to make one forget it 
all, and feel that he is in an oasis in the midst of 
the desert. Dark clouds sometimes have silvery 
linings, and every picture has a bright side, if we 
will but search aright for it. Some fore-knowl- 
edge, experience and a free good will, have taught 
me to avail myself of every opportunity, yea, 
sometimes to make an opportunity, to seek out 
these bright and pleasant places, and full many 
an hour of bliss has it brought me. 

About the 1st of May I sent one of my men, 
who had undergone a long spell of fever, and was 
again threatened, to the country, where he could 
get more tender treatment than in camp or hospi- 
tal. A week later, by permission of the Colonel, 
I chartered Dr. Ernest's horse and rode out to see 



36 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOI^ LIFE. 

liim, at the hospitable mansion of Capt. Edwards, 
the best old farmer in all the country about. 
Some four or five other convalescents from our 
regiment were there. Mrs. E. cared for them as 
kindly as if they had been her own, and the boys 
loved her for it. She told me there had been no 
less than thirty-seven sick men in her house since 
the troops had been stationed there. I found my 
man so much recuperated as to be able for camp 
in a few days. I partook of a good dinner, said 
adieu, and started in a hurry for our camp, four 
miles distant. 

]N"ot far off my route was the residence of Dr. 
Cook, with whose family I was intimately ac- 
quainted. I thought it very probable that we 
would move soon, so I easily persuaded myself to 
halt and say farewell. I am not sure that I would 
have ever known the Doctor but from the fact that 
he had three accomplished and interesting daugh- 
ters. It was my first visit for a month, and they 
seemed glad to see me. First I greeted the madam, 
and soon there came tripping in the ones I most 
desired to see, fresh as morning roses and full of 
life. The eldest. Miss Lucy, was thoroughly edu- 
cated, being well versed in several languages, 
quite good looking, brilliant, witty and sarcastic, 
the very kind of a " sawyer " I sometimes like to 
strike against. Misses Potia and Mary Vic, 
though not quite so brilliant, were amiable and 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 37 

interesting, and tlie hours glided, by till, the first 
thing I knew, the sun was gilding the tree tops. 
I called for and heard a few choice pieces on the 
piano, by Miss Lucy, accompanied by Miss Potia's 
vocal melody. Tlfen, taking several bouquets for 
their friends in camp, I lingered on the portals as 
I bade adieu, perhai3S forever. Striking a lope, I 
reached camp at dusk, delivered the mementoes 
and messages, and followed on after my company, 
which had j ust gone on duty at the breastworks on 
the river bank. That's the last piano I've heard, 
the last parlor I've entered and the last refined 
society I have been in up to date. 

Our brigade commissary got a supply of flour 
and sugar on the 11th of May. I procured for 
ray mess, consisting of myself, three Lieutenants 
and our cook, eighty pounds of sugar at 12 1-2 
cents, and sixty pounds of flour at 20 cents, which 
was our allowance. With what other little stock 
we had on hand, we thought ourselves in good 
fix for awhile. But the sequel was, we lost it all. 

That evening, Lieut. J. T. Earnest and myself 
borrowed a metal skiff and took a, ride on the 
bosom of the great Father of Waters. We started 
to go over to the Louisiana shore, but being warned 
by a sentinel that we might be fired on by the 
water batteries, we thouglit it discretion to desist. 

Just at dusk, Mrs. Hinson, a poor, good woman, 
who lived near our camp, and whose husband was 



38 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

in the service, sent for one of my Lieutenants and 
myself to sit up with the corpse of one of her 
children. We could not refuse to go, and were 
glad to give rest and comfort to a distressed 
mother. The morning of May i2th was the last 
one that ever dawned on us in our camp, that had 
become so home-like to us. For several days past 
matters had been so quiet that we had ceased to 
be in suspense, and, instead of active, restless, 
held duty, were enjoying customary camjD life. 

At two o'clock, p. M., orders came from General 
Vaughn to cook three days' rations. So often 
had similar orders come that it startled us not, 
and we went leisurely to work, not dreaming that 
we would leave before next day, if then. At four 
o'clock another order said everything must be 
ready to move at six o'clock, taking nothing ex- 
cept what we had on our backs, one blanket, war 
equipments, and a single cooking utensil to the 
mess. This time we were actually going to leave, 
and the prognostications were, for very active 
service. Everything was now astir, hunying up 
the beef and cakes, and fixing up duds to leave 
in the care of the sick, of whom there were almost 
a hundred. As the appointed hour drew nigh the 
hurry increased. 

At half past five the long roll beat for all to 
arms, and though many of the men had not fin- 
ished cooking, there was no longer time to tarry. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 39 

Officers were busy seeing avIio were and who were 
not able to go, and leaving instructions for the 
sick. I had to leave fifteen of my men who were 
not able to travel; never a word have I heard 
from them since. Precisely at six all were in line, 
and with various feelings and expressions we bade 
adieu to our romantic home in the hollow. 

We were met at the main road by the other 
regiments of our brigade, the 61st and 62d Ten- 
nessee, commanded by Colonels Pitts and Rowan. 
Ours being the senior regiment, took the advance, 
and the column moved on through a stifling dust, 
we knew not whither bound. At ten o'clock in 
the night we turned aside from the road and struck 
camp in a woodland near Mount Albion Church. 
"We built huge log fires, and chatted around them 
for awhile, then wrapped up in our blankets and 
laid down to sleep and rest our weary limbs. All 
was soon hushed and still, till three next morn- 
ing, when the long roll aroused us. In fifteen 
minutes all were up and ready to move again. 
Just as streaks of light began peeping from the 
East Ave entered the main road at Dr. Newman's ; 
following that to its intersection with the Jackson 
and Yickfiburg Railroad, we left it, taking along 
the latter in the direction of Jackson. We now 
knew our first j)oint of destination, which was Big 
Black Bridge, ten miles away. We halted at eight 
o'clock, partook of a frugal but refreshing snack, 



40 CAIMP, FIELD ATnTD PRISON" LIFE. 

then plodded on, reaching the bridge near noon. 
We passed over to the east side and took quar- 
ters in the intrenchments just vacated by troops 
ordered forward. 

There was a general move to the front. Two 
brigades were then leaving, and during the even- 
ing General Stephenson's division passed. From 
the dense clouds we knew the storm must be 
brewing, and that the clash of arms might soon 
be heard and seen. Already had the advance 
pickets on each side been lighting, and the enemy 
had been making a reconnoisance to within ten 
miles of that very place. 

That day I first saw General Pemberton, who, 
accompanied by his staff and General Tom. Tay- 
lor, of Kentucky, was going to the front. 

Now, a word about our afterward unfortunate 
position. The country all around is low and level. 
A line of intrenchments something over a mile in 
length had been cut in a zigzag, circular shape, 
crossing the railroad, and terminating at the river 
above and below. Nature afforded no favorable 
elevations,'but those earthworks were certainly in 
favor of the holders. The whole bottom was one 
vast corn-field, containing perhaps 300 acres. 
Several gin houses and sheds were partially filled 
with cotton bales, and several hundred bales had 
been used in constructing batteries and defenses 
for ammunition and the wounded. As an inevi- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 41 

table result, much of tlie corn, which was about a 
foot high, was trodden down by the soldiery in 
the construction of the works. We learned on 
the 14th that the Federals had taken Jackson 
with little or no resistance. The cause of the weak 
defense we never learned. 

That morning, seeing that everything was right, 
I started out on a foraging expedition, and after 
a smart tramp found a lady who sold me two 
pounds of butter at $1.00 per pound, cheap enough ; 
and she gave me a gallon of milk, for which we 
usually paid $1.00. I engaged more for next day, 
and while I was sitting in the piazza resting and 
admiring the beautiful flowers, shrubbery and 
evergreens in the yard, a rain storm came on and 
poured for an hour. It abated and I started for 
camp, but got soaked to the skin. I found the 
boys standing wrapped in their blankets, and 
taking the pelting rain like wet turkeys, the 
greatest care of each being his . gun. All our 
ditches were filled to the brim, and had the Yanks 
come then, it would have been face to face. When 
it cleared off that evening we drained and bailed 
off most of the water. That night the cold, wet 
ground was our pillow. Next morning we heard 
desultory firing some distance off, in the supposed 
direction of the enemy. Many thought the battle 
had begun, but it proved to be General Buford's 
brigade firing off their wet guns. We spent the 



42 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON- LIFE. 

forenoon in cleaning and fixing up our contraiD- 
tions for a Yankee hunt. 

In tlie afternoon of May IStli we were quietly 
basking in the sunshine about the intrenchments, 
expecting to fight there if the enemy came. But 
how vain the expectations of man. At three 
o'clock orders came for our regiment to be ready 
to move in ten minutes. All rushed to arms, for 
some one whispered that the foe were not far in 
the distance. Right soon we were on the march 
to Edwards' Depot, five miles east, where we 
arrived at sunset, and camped in an old field hard 
by. ■ We found an immense wagon train just 
moving toward Clinton and Jackson. Our whole 
army had been concentrating there for several 
days, and had only a few hours before moved 
forward. That night my company and that of 
Captain Hale were ordered on picket duty. We 
took position on the main Raymond road, keeping 
a small outpost some half mile in advance, and 
still two miles farther out was a cavalry picket. 
We were suspecting a dash of the enemy's cavalry 
that night, but they came not. 

Various were the rumors in regard to the move^ 
ments of our adversaries, but the fact was that 
Grant, from Port Gibson, and Pemberton, from 
Vicksburg, had been marching almost parallel, 
their lines converging and coming in contact some 
four miles out from Edwards' Dej)ot on the morn- 



isfr 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 43 

ing of 16 til May. General Gregg's brigade had, 
a few days before, fought a Federal division at 
Raymond, but had to give way before superior 
numbers, after his noble Fort Donelson and 
Chickasaw Bayou boys had repulsed them gal- 
lantly for several hours. 

From our picket post, on the morning of the 
16th, we could plainly hear the opening of the 
contest at Champion Hill. First came the usual 
skirmish firing, sometimes in volleys, then a few 
cannon commenced blazing away, and as the sun 
neared the zenith, faster and hotter became the 
engagement. Up to near noon was spent in strat- 
egy and manoeuvering, the lines of battle getting 
changed almost perpendicular to their original 
position. Then the work commenced in earnest. 
Now, for perhaiDS an hour, the artillery roars like 
thunder, deadening everything else ; now it meas- 
urably ceases, and the din of small arms, as thick 
as hail pattering on the roof, can be heard for 
several miles along the line. Sometimes successive 
volleys belch forth, then again we hear the ran- 
dom, desultory tiring. And now the brazen bat- 
teries open anew from a fresh place. For a while 
the deadly combat goes on, then all breaks off 
into silence. But again, like a smothered fire, 
the battle breaks forth at a iiew point in all its 
former fury, and we imagine that the enemy are 
being driven back, for the sound seems to get 



44 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOlSr LIFE. 

more distant ; l^ut it proved that the contending 
parties had got into a hollow, and there was a 
mighty slaughter on both sides. At one point 
our troops occupied the edge of a wood fronting 
a corn field. Twice did the enemy attempt to 
charge them, but each time with a sad result to 
the attacking party. Then a fresh storming party 
came in front and on the flank, and our men were 
routed and driven with heavy loss. 

About two o'clock the wounded and stragglers 
commenced passing our post, going to the rear. 
The latter we halted and kept with us. "Within 
an hour, several hundred men, wounded in every 
conceivable manner, passed by, about one half of 
them being shot in the hands and arms, as is 
usually the case in a battle. Stragglers were 
constantly reporting that our army was being 
whij)ped — that the enemy were too many in num- 
ber. From the increased stream coming back, it 
began to seem too painfully true, for at four o'clock 
the whole road was lined with fragments of regi- 
ments and parts of batteries. 

Half an hour later. General Pemberton came 
up to my post and asked why my company was 
not to the front. I told him we were on picket, 
and he said it was all right. To my inquiry as to 
the shape of the battle, he said : " We are whip- 
ped, but the enemy outnumbered us three to one." 
Though calm in conduct, he appeared greatly agi- 



CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISON LIFE. 45 

tated ill mind. While there a courier came up 
with a disjDatch from General Joseph E. Johnston. 
He read it, studied a moment, gritted his teeth, 
and remarked to his staff: " Had General John- 
ston sent me this dispatch yesterday, this battle 
would not have been fought!" He handed the 
message to his Adjutant General, saying, " Here, 
preserve this, it may be of value to me some day." 
I afterward found out that the dispatch was an 
order to avoid a collision with the enemy, and 
unite his force with Johnston's in the vicinity of 
Clinton. And I then surmised that he wanted it 
preserved, believing that his conduct would un- 
dergo an investigation. 

Now the whole army was in full retreat, several 
brigades tarrying on the battle-field to hold the 
enemy in check. General Tilghman, of Kentucky, 
lost his life late in the evening, while keeping the 
enemy back at a bridge on the left. 

It looked like another stand was to be made at 
Edv/ards' Depot, for all the troops were stopped 
there ; but near dusk the army resumed its march 
toward Big Black. As we left the Depot, car 
loads of provisions, ammunition and medical 
stores, as well as cotton houses all round, could 
be seen in flames, to keep them from the enemy. 
As our rear guard evacuated the place the Fed- 
erals occupied it, sending grape and canister after 
the boys, but not pursuing further. Before ten 



46 CAMP, FIELD Aj^D PEISOX LIFE. 

o'clock Big Black was readied, and a portion of 
the army jjassed on in tlie direction of Ticksbiirg. 
The rest remained to give the enemy fight. 

Our regiment was ordered to the extreme right, 
beyond the real line of defense. We took posi- 
tion behind the levee, and with a few spades soon 
had some rough earthworks constructed. After 
the excitement of the day, and the night march, 
we wrapped our martial cloaks about us at the 
hour of midnight, and slept soundly till day. 

Perhaps four thousand men and twenty pieces 
of artillery were left to defend the place, and we 
felt sure the enemy would march on us next morn- 
ing. That night, while intrenching, I said to our 
Colonel and several others that we would surely 
"go up right there," for there was no means of 
retreat, the river being directly in our rear and no 
crossing save near the bridge, and that was frail 
and inadequate. I was sure that an army at least 
four-fold of our number was coming against us, 
and, with such a position as we had, it was pre- 
posterous to think of holding out for more than a 
few hours. However, nothing daunted, we made 
the best preparation we could to receive them. 

At seven o'clock next morning our pickets began 
a brisk fire with their cavalry advance. In one 
hour more their infantry and artillery came up, 
and soon an artillery duel commenced, lasting a 
half hour. Then there was a silence while the guns 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOIST LIFE. 47 

of the foemeii were being put in better places and 
in closer pfoximity. Then again they opened, and 
shot and shell rained for awhile, but doing no 
serious damage. The whistling riHed cannon balls 
that split open the trees in our rear made some of 
the boys open their eyes, but most of them were 
perfectly calm. Some hours were occupied by the 
enemy in getting their various infantry columns 
into position. 

They encompassed our whole line, and in many 
places dense columns could be seen advancing. 
On our left a thick forest was within a lialf mile 
of our line, and here it was that the enemy made 
their first demonstration. First the sharpshooters 
tried their hands ; then several brigades of infan- 
try, like brave Spartans, came out into the open 
ground ; but the Southern boys soon made them 
hustle back to the cover of the timber. Next an 
advance was made upon our center, and a brisk 
fight, at long range, continued for perhaps an' 
hour. 

Soon a column was seen filing to the right of 
our line, and we were fully expecting a brush 
there. The tide of battle ebbed and flowed till 
near eleven o'clock, when the enemy finding, 
through a deserter, a flaw in our works, made a 
bold and successful charge through the unguarded 
space, about the center of our left wing. In over- 
whelming numbers they were now upon our flank 



48 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

and roar, so that our men had no earthly show of 
resistance: they must run, surrender, or be shot 
down. The commanding officer, seeing the situa- 
tion, gave immediate orders for evacuation ; but 
the Federals could reach the only crossing of Big 
Black river as soon as we possibly could. 

My regiment, being on the extreme right, was 
not aware of the situation for some minutes ; then, 
after a short consultation by the regimental offi- 
cers, we thought it best to attempt an escape down 
the river; accordingly we made tracks in that 
direction, but had gone only a little wa}^ when we 
saw ourselves hemmed in, and the blue-coats 
swarming from the brush half a mile in our front. 
Colonel Crawford had made his escape, so Lieut.- 
Colonel Gregg consulted with the officers, and it 
was conceded by all that there was no alternative 
but to surrender. We formed the regiment in 
line, threw down our arms and accoutrements, 
and Colonel Gregg rode out to meet the enemy, 
who were rushing on with wild huzzas. I and 
many others shed tears for a few moments ; then 
I summoned up my manhood, and counseled my 
boys not to be dejected or cowed, but as valorous 
as ever, for we had tried to do our whole duty, 
and were guiltless. 

We surrendered to General Burbridge, of Ken- 
tucky. Some few of the Northern soldiery were 
inclined to be insolent, but seeing the spirit of 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE, 49 

our boys, the officers liad us treated justly. I 
found several Federal Kentucky regiments, and 
many men I had known in days before. An hour 
after I was captured I took dinner with Colonel 
George Monroe, of Frankfort, Kentucky, and got 
the first genuine coffee and good old ham I had 
seen in many a day. Need I say it made me feel 
delicious all over, and that I can not forget the 
kindness of that Federal officer? 

In his regiment I met a Dntchman who was 
once our bootmaker at the Kentucky Military In- 
stitute. Approaching me with a broad, genial 
grin on his countenance, he said in his broken 
twang, " I knows you, but can't tell who you are ; 
I used to make you boots." I told him I was 
glad to meet him, but sorry to find him in such 
bad company. " No," said he, " it is you what 
be in bad company." One of my schoolmates of 
two years before was on the staff of Gen. Smith, 
who was against us. The casualties in the Union 
army far exceeded our own. In their last grand 
charge they lost several field officers and several 
hundred men. 

To any one familiar with military matters, it 
was evident that weak generalship was the cause 
of our terrible disaster. Many cried out that 
General Pemberton had " sold us," but the im- 
pression was far from universal. At Baker's 

Creek he allowed the enemy to out mancEuver 
4 



50 CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISOlSr LIFE. 

liim and flank onr troops, and crush out our "bri- 
gades in detail — so say those who participated. 
The defenses at Big Black were badl}^ planned, 
and wise generalship would have dictated a means 
of escape in case of emergency. But we are too 
prone to condemn a commander when he meets 
with defeat. When the matter is sifted I think it 
will be found that General P. had a willing mind, 
but was deficient in the martial talent necessary 
to mana3uver an army in the field. 

Now comes a new era in our existence as sol- 
diers. We are no longer strong armed and brave 
hearted hojs, ready and willing to rush on into 
the ranks of the foe at the bidding of those we 
loved to obey and follow. True, we still possess 
the same physical qualities and the same hearts, 
but they are powerless now. We are prisoners 
of war, subject to the will and mandates of those 
into whose hands we have fallen. I must say 
that, so far, we have generally been treated with 
the courtesy due a prisoner. 

But I left us in the hands of the exulting Yanks 
on the. verge of the Big Black. We were formed 
in two lines and marched along the line of our 
deserted intrenchments to a shady woodland half 
a mile off. 

Big Black bridge, a splendid structure, Avas now 
in flames, and a sharp cannonade was going on 
between our men over the river and the Yankees, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOX LIFE. 51 

who were trying to cross. Had the engagement 
lasted a half hour longer, a whole division of troops 
and twelve rilled cannon would have come against 
our single regiment. "We were going to try them 
a whack, though they would have overpowered 
lis after we had slayed perhaps a hundred or so 
of them. Our nerves were all braced for the ex- 
pected onset, and the boys would have battled 
valiantly. 

It was now the 17th day of May, and the sun 
was blazing hot, so the shade to which we were 
escorted was quite pleasant. Stragglers w^ere 
being picked up in all directions, and our captive 
band soon amounted to 2,500, the w^hole number 
captured. A guard line w^as formed, and we were 
allowed loose range over several acres of ground. 
The Yankee boys soon mixed all among us, and 
were anxious to know why we rebels were fighting 
so ardently against " the best government the 
world ever saw." Some would argue the subject 
matter like philosophers, others would get mad 
and ily off. There was an entire freedom of inter- 
course, and the Federal officers came in, too, and, 
when they could distinguish them from the pri- 
vates, talked with our "big officers" about things 
in general. 

They were exceedingly jubilant, for their tele- 
grapli said Richmond had fallen, and they said 
they were going to take Vicksburg next day like 



52 CAMP, FIELD Al^D PEISOIN" LIFE. 

a flasli, wliicli tliey didn't, neither liad the Con- 
federate Capital gone under. Altogether, it was 
a semi-interesting occasion, and that vast general 
admixture of gray jackets and blue coats was a 
fit subject for the graphic pencil of an artist. 

While the time was thus passing, the rear of 
the Union army, wagon trains, cavalry scouts, 
plunderers and contrabands were constantly ar- 
riving. They had the best equipped wagon train 
I ever saw, nearly all six horse or mule teams, 
splendid stock, and all in excellent condition. It 
was a wonderful sight to behold the three heavy 
siege guns, drawn by sixteen oxen each. They 
were fifteen feet long and otherwise in proportion. 
I had not dreamed that such ponderous things 
could be transported through tlie country from 
Port Gibson. 

For half a mile around us the woodland was 
thick with Yankees, Confeds, stock, wagons and 
colored folks. The loyal troops, who had been 
living on half rations for some time, were taking 
a hasty snack. Though most of us had eaten 
nothing since the day before, not a bite did we 
get. Tlie house of a planter near by, and who 
had fled when the battle came on, was s]3lendidly 
furnished with costly things, and contained a 
large, choice library. The whole premises were 
sacked by the Northern soldier}^, and that too 
tight under the eyes of several Generals who had 



CAMP, FIELD Ai^D PRISON LIFE. 53 

made lieadquarters in tlie house. It was within 
our guard line. 

All the afternoon the enemy were engaged in 
tearing down several barns and making pontoon 
bridges across Big Black river, and just before 
nightfall the bulk of their army passed over and 
on to take Vicksburg next day. We remained 
on the ground that night, being promised some- 
thing to eat next mopning. Several times we were 
got into line and counted, and after being num- 
bered the last time, the ofRcers were relieved of 
their swords and pistols. Some had thrown theirs 
avv^ay rather than surrender them. 

My revolver had already been taken by an im- 
pudent puppy of a staff officer. Without orders 
and with a haughty air he ordered me to give it 
to him. I told him I had been thus ordered sev- 
eral times, but had refused, and did still refuse, 
to give it up unless ordered by a competent au- 
thority. A Major- General was standing near by. 
I approached him and asked if I must deliver it 
over. He said " yes," and I did so. The pompous, 
contemptible manner of the being with shoulder 
straps on who demanded it deeply aroused my 
indignation, and I had a burning desire to tell the 
chap what I thought of him. 

At two p. M., 18th May, the officer in charge of 
us said he would take us to Edwards' Depot, 
where he could o:et some rations for us. Our 



54 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOlSr LIFE. 

escort were the 23cl Iowa and tlie 54tli Indiana. 
Upon getting to the Depot we found Gen, Hovey's 
division of the army there, and all along the road 
we noticed Federal soldierj'^ occupying the farm 
houses. The citizens were generally gone, and 
their homes were being made desolate. 

The darkies were congregated about in groups, 
congratulating each other upon their supposed 
freedom. Many of them were ludicrously dressed 
in all the good clothing of their masters and mis- 
tresses. Poor creatures, did they only know of 
the degradation to which they are drifting. 

We were marched out a half mile to an old 
field where there was an abnndance of water, and 
there we pitched camp again. It was now sun- 
down, and from long fasting our appetites were 
\\ Iiittied down to a keen point, but the command- 
ant said we should have rations before we slejit. 
Many of the boys had not tasted food lor two 
days ; now and then a generous Fed. would share 
his mite with a hungry Reb. At ten o'clock beef, 
sugar and meal came, but no salt, and nothing to 
cook in. So, many again wrapped up in the arms 
of Morpheus, and dreamed of good things to eat, 
just out of their reach. 

It was in this wise that I got my supper : My 
orderly sergeant skinned some bark from a green 
tree in which to make up the dough, which he 
wrapped up in writing paper, and wetting the 



CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISOlSr LIFE. 00 

paper, covered it up with embers. The bread 
cooked without burning the paper, and of a truth 
never did bread taste more sweet and palatable. 
Many were the ways in which our rations were 
served up on that occasion. Indeed is necessity 
the mother of invention. 

Perhaps it may be no honor to tell of light- 
fingered tricks, but I'll risk the condemnation and 
tell what Captain Blair and myself did. At ten 
o'clock at night a huge pile of beef, bacon and 
meal, guarded by Yanks, was surrounded by a 
thousand rebels, all anxious as- children round a 
Christmas tree. That commissary stuff was to be 
divided among the whole camp. Federal and Con- 
federate, and would make the individual ration 
rather slim. While the commissary sergeants 
were busy dealing out rations to the representa- 
tives of various companies and detachments, Blair 
managed to get his clutches on a bacon ham, and 
my fingers tightened On a hundred pound sack of 
meal, and in triumph did we march to where our 
boys were camped, and the presumption is that 
we had full rations next day. The meat and meal 
had been captured from our army, and it surely 
should be no offense to take back our own. At 
any rate, I did not then feel, nor have I ever 
since felt, any compunctions of conscience over 
the matter. 

At three o'clock May 19th we took the back 



56 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

track, arriving at Big Black just at dusk. "We 
crossed the river on a pontoon bridge, and camped 
in a corn field on tlie river Muff. That niglit Col. 
Gates and liis adjutant, Frank Clewell, of the 2d 
Missouri cavalry, escaped. Next morning we got 
beef and meal for breakfast. I managed to get 
out of the guard line and " borrow " a little coffee 
and bacon in the Yankee camps, and while out I 
managed to " draw " a coft'ee pot, which accom- 
panied us to prison. Almost before we had time 
to cook our lean rations orders came to move. 

Before eight o'clock we were traveling toward 
Yicksburg. We passed many beautiful mansions, 
and everywhere the ladies came out to give us a 
look of profound sympathy. Some, whose hopes 
and fortitude had almost sunk, shed tears ; others, 
with stronger and braver hearts, waved their white 
'kerchiefs and audibly blessed us, wishing us a 
speedy return to battle for Southern rights. We 
gave them cheers, told them all would yet be 
well, and some whose feelings were more tender 
could not restrain the tear drops that flowed in 
sympathy for these noble women of the South. 

At noon we halted for water and rest directly 
in rear of Vicksburg, and but a few hundred yards 
from the Federal line of investment. A brisk 
cannonade was then going on from either side. 
We stopped in sight of the residence of Dr. Cook, 
where I had spent so many pleasant hours. He 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 57 

had taken his family and gone into Vicksbnrg 
among the besieged. His house was now a hos- 
pital, and his yard, orchard and fields a dense 
wagon yard. Mrs. Lake's residence, near by, was 
also being used as a hospital ; all was gone to 
rack. 

After an hour's rest we marched on, going close 
by our old camp ground, and taking in the direc- 
tion of Snyder's Bluff. After traversing some 
three miles, we turned abruptly to the left, and 
descending the rugged hills that overlook that 
memorable spot, we passed directly over the battle 
ground of Chickasaw Bayou, which proved so 
disastrous to the Federals about the close of the 
old year, four hundred having been captured and 
at least a thousand killed and wounded, on an 
area of not over four acres. Very many of our 
boys along knew all about the matter from expe- 
rience, and some of our Federal escort had a slight 
idea of the place, the 54tli Indiana having lost 
over two hundred men there. 

It was at this point that we commenced meeting 
wagons laden with army stores for the troops 
besieging Vicksbnrg. They came over a corduroy 
road from Lake's Landing, on the Yazoo river, 
where still other boats were then landing. Sny- 
der's Bluff, which had withstood many a j^elt from 
the Yankee ironclads, was now evacuated, and 
several gunboats were already dispatched to 



58 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

Yazoo City, in hopes of capturing two splendid 
gunboats being built tliere. But the bird was 
flown ; the torch had done its work. The supply 
train that we passed numbered a hundred wagons, 
and we met a brigade going to Vicksburg, they 
said, but we assured them they would get no 
admittance. 

We arrived at the Yazoo about dark, having 
traveled over twenty miles since eight o'clock, 
most of the time through a stifling dust. We 
found a dozen transports and a host of soldiers, 
citizens and boatmen, all full of joy, for they 
thought one-half of Pemberton's army was there. 
Within an hour's time we got plentiful rations, 
but had no way of cooking, and besides that, most 
of us were too weary to think of anything but 
rest and sleejD. All night long, at regular inter- 
vals, the enemy's mortar boats were throwing 
shell into the city. 

During the forenoon of May 21st, we managed 
to get onr appetites satiated and our bodies well 
saturated, for a beating rain poured on us for an 
hour, and we had the opportunity of taking a 
refreshing bath in a bayou close by. All day 
long a heavy bombardment was going on at 
Vicksburg, by both gun and mortar boats, being 
occasionally relieved by volleys of infantry. So 
many and so great had been our misfortunes that 
many of us were almost willing to concede that 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 59 

Yicksburg must succumb in a few days, but hope 
and faith in the future still buoyed us up. 

Late that evening we took passage on some 
transports bound for Young's Point, Louisiana. 
My regiment chartered the steamer " Chancellor" 
for the occasion. At dusk we went out of the 
Yazoo onto the broad Mississippi, and at eight 
o'clock rounded to at Young's Point, and remained 
aboard over night. We could plainly see the 
mortar boats shelling Yicksburg, which was in 
full view of our position We could only distin- 
guish the light of the fuse in the bomb, which 
would go up and up for several thousand feet, 
then down, down, down into the devoted city, but 
not more than one-half of them exploded, and the 
damage was slight. They threw shells a distance 
of two and a half miles, and it was a beautiful 
sight to behold those seeming streaks of light 
traverse the midnight darkness in pleasing curves. 

From our camps around Yicksburg we had seen 
the Federal fleet anchored at Young's Point since 
Christmas day of 1862, but had never dreamed 
of being .there in that capacity ; though the boys 
often joked each other about going to "Camp 
Chase " and other Northern prisons. At nine 
o'clock May 22d, we for the first time set foot on 
Louisiana soil, and camped where the phalanx of 
Yankee tents had been arrayed all winter and 
spring. 



60 CAMP, FIELD AXD PEISON LIFE. 

Often had we heard of the great mortality 
among the Federal soldiers stationed there, and 
now saw ample cause for it all. There was a low, 
flat country behind the levee, both swampy and 
filthy. All along the edge of the levee were thick 
groups of graves, with here and there a rough 
slab to mark the last resting place of some poor, 
deluded fellow, wlio thought he was fighting for 
the preservation of the government in its purity, 
instead of for the subjugation of the rights and 
institutions of the Soutliern people. 

Here the rebel officers were seiDarated from t\\e 
privates, our camps being a quarter of a mile 
apart, and it was with difficulty that we procured 
the privilege of going to see our sick men._ We 
had to go a half mile to the river to get water and 
wood to cook our rations. But three could go at 
once, and were invariably escorted by a chap 
wearing a blue coat and sporting a musket and a 
"six-shooter." 

The whole number of prisoners now collected 
from various quarters was about 3,500, some 170 
of them being officers. The sun was almost in- 
sufferably hot, and we made shades A\i.th brush, 
and with our blankets stretched on poles. 

May 23d was a dull, monotonous day, except 
when relieved by the artillery duels going on' 
around the city. It seems that at two o'clock the 
gunboats were to make a combined and stubborn 



CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISON LIFE. 61 

attempt to silence our river batteries. It was re- 
ported that in tlie onset one iron-clad went to 
"Davy Jones' locker;" anyway /men came from 
that direction dripping wet, and the tiring died 
away. 

The next day was. Sunday, and everybody but 
us put on good clothes, and went sauntering about 
to see what they could find. We were excusable, 
for we had none to put on. Quite a number of 
Federal officers who had not yet seen the " monkey 
show" came loitering around our guard line, pry- 
ing into the general physiognomy of the boys and 
old men that were fighting against " the best gov- 
ernment the sun ever shone on." 

Our boys would meet them at the guard line 
and discuss the matter freely — concessions were 
sometimes mutually made, but I never knew of 
any one being convinced or converted. We struck 
them heavy on the nigger question, giving freely 
our opinion of those who were willing to equalize 
themselves with the sweet-scented sons and daugh- 
ters of Africa. They would most always " whip 
the devil round the stump," and deny many patent 
facts. Many " up the river men " lurked about 
our camps, anxious to see what kind of stuff rebels 
were made of. 

About noonday we beheld a stately column 
approaching from the direction of Richmond, La., 
and lo ! when they came near unto us we per- 



62 CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISOX LIFE. 

ceived it to be composed of nearly tliree hundred 
contrabands, witli their cubs and bundles of rags, 
hunting freedom. 

Hundreds of them were already squatted about 
in squalid hovels and tents, with no means of sub- 
sistence, save the scraps they could pick up round 
the soldiers' camps. 'Twill be a dear-bought 
freedom to them, for the Northerners don't really 
love them, and won't take them into brotherhood. 
They only want to destroy the institution, think- 
ing not and caring not what will become of the 
unfortunate wretches. 

Though very many in the South believe, and 
more contend, that it is the desire and aim of the 
whole Northern army to free the slaves, it is a 
false imputation. The majority of the North- 
western men do not care to interfere with the 
institution where it now exists. But it is the 
policy of the administration, and the commanding 
officers must do the will of him at the helm of 
State. They say to the soldiery that it is a mili- 
tary necessity to weaken the strength of the rebels, 
pretending that it is all only for the restoration of 
the Union as it was. 

The Democracy of the North seem to have just 
awakened into the light of the true issue. But it 
is now too late to avert the storm. Arms must 
decide the case. 

On the morning of the 25tli we were notified 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON" LIFE, 63 

that steamboats were coaling up to transport us 
np tlie river. Three days' rations were furnished 
to last us to Memphis, and we spent the forenoon 
in getting ready for a journey. At two o'clock 
we took up our beds and walked for the landing,' 
accompanied by the 23d Wisconsin and 80tli Oliio. 
Our fleet "was made up of the following boats : the 
Crescent City, Ohio Belle, Gladiator, Omaha, the 
Gen. Robert Allen and a gunboat to keep off the 
guerrillas that infested the river. I was on board 
the Omaha, which had some 800 men. The gun- 
boat mounted ten heavy guns, and one-half its 
crew were gallant boys all the way from Africa. 

All this while the siege had been going on at 
Vicksburg, and the enemy during the past week 
had made several heavy concentrated charges, 
every time being driven back with frightful loss. 
Our faith in the invincibility of Vicksburg was 
growing stronger. 

At four o'clock we steamed off, taking a last, 
lingering look at the gallant city as she faded in 
the distance, and leaving our blessings and best 
wishes with her noble defenders. We were glad 
to get away from the hearing of a contest in which 
we felt so deep an interest, but could not lend a 
helping hand. 

Near dusk we passed Millikin's Bend, and in a 
little while a cannon shot whizzed over our heads, 
making us feel somewhat ticklish, thinking the 



64 CAMP, FIELD A]S^D PRISON" LIFE. 

iibic[uitons rebels were firing into ns from the 
shore. But it proved to be a signal from the iron- 
clad for the boats to " haul to ;" then they were 
ordered to get in line one after another, in which 
manner they traveled all night. I took sleeping 
quarters in the open air on top, it being too warm 
on the inside. As we glided along over the placid 
waters I watched the varied scenery, lit up by the 
pale moonbeams, till near the hour of midnight. 
Then I wrapped up in my blanket and knew no 
more till the sun was shining in my face next 
morning. 

The natural scenery on the Mississippi is the 
most dull and monotonous imaginable. But few 
high, rugged, picturesque cliifs meet the view, and 
the conformation of the earth and the growth 
along the shore presents an unpleasing sameness. 
In many places, for miles, no habitation could be 
seen, and ofttimes when we did pass a plantation 
it was devastated and deserted. At three o'clock 
we passed the steamers Luminary and Ben Frank- 
lin, carrying subsistence to Vicksburg. They 
were convoyed by the rebel gunboat " General 
Bragg," a craft of novel construction but beauti- 
ful appearance, lost by the Confederates at Mem- 
phis in the spring of 1862. 

At nine o'clock on the morning of the 27th we 
passed Napoleon, Arkansas, once a thrifty place, 
but now deserted; only a few forlorn looking 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 65 

women and children could be seen. 'Twas a true 
picture of the deserted village. Oh ! the horrors 
of war. About noon we came up with Elliott's 
marine brigade, consisting of a fleet of thirteen 
boats, some new ones, but mostly old New Orleans 
packets, transformed and barricaded against rifle 
shots. The mission of said brigade is to patrol 
the river and keep off the partisan rangers in the 
service of " Dixie." They had cavalry, infantry 
and some small held pieces, and when attacked 
they aim to run their cavalry ashore, surround, 
and " gobble up " the daring Confederates. 

They are a heavy expense to the government, 
but don't catch many of our boys. Their duty is 
to halt and inspect every craft going up or down 
the river. The presumption is they were glad to 
find so good a cargo of rebels on board our fleet. 
After an hour's consultation among the officers we 
passed on. Several men on our boat had been 
taken very ill, and that morning a poor fellow, 
belonging to the 49th Tennessee, died. He was 
•put in a coffin and consigned to the deep, to know 
the turmoils of earth no more. We know not 
who was left to mourn at home, or whether friends 
ever knew of his fate. 

As we passed on, the eye and the mind became 
weary in contemplating the prospect all around. 
But seldom did we notice a human being, and it 
was only here and there that a horse or cow could 



66 CAMP, FIELD A^STD PRISON LIFE. 

be seen grazing in a field. It seemed as if a great 
plague had come over the agricultural resources, 
for where was once beautiful corn and cotton, 
rank, useless weeds were now growing. 

At daylight May 28th we were in front of Helena, 
Arkansas, and, as at Napoleon, the people were 
most all gone, and it bore anything but a pleasing 
aspect. The post was well fortified, being sur- 
rounded by rugged hills. We noticed that the 
garrison was partly composed of colored troops. 
During the day we passed the ruins of several 
towns that had been burned by the soldiery. 
ToAvard night we could see increasing signs of 
habitation and prosperity along the shore, and 
when darkness came we were making ready to 
cast anchor in front of Memphis. 



* 

■^ 



CAMP, FIELD AKD PEISON LIFE. 07 



CHAPTER III. 



"Uncle Sam's Confederate Hotel,") 
Lake Erie, July 24, 1SG3. 1 

Arising quite early from my coucli on the cabin 
floor of the "Omaha" on the morning of May 
29th, I gained the highest elevation on the boat, 
and beheld a great city risen np before mine eyes 
since the daylight had left us. But, like Memphis 
of old, much of her former prowess and life was 
gone. Memphis is a large and well built city, 
and boasts many splendid, towering edifices. The 
Gayoso House is a magnificent structure and a 
model Southern hotel. The commercial interests 
of the city have been very heavy, it being the 
terminus of several railroads running through 
fertile and populous regions, and besides that 
being the central mart of an extensive trade on 
the Mississippi. 

Like all cities that have undergone tlie devas- 
tating influences of the presence of an army, life 
and activity is, to a great degree, crushed in every 
department except military supplies. But from 



68 CAMP, FIELD AKD PEISOX LIFE, 

her geographical position, the facilities for trans- 
portation, and the intelligence and enterprising 
character of the surrounding community, trade 
must- pros^Der there so soon as untrammeled Ib}^ 
military guardianship. 

Most all of our first day at Memphis was spent 
in coaling and taking aboard a supply of rations 
to last us to Cairo. We had now been cooped up 
on the waters for several days, and the inactivity 
and monotony was becoming quite irksome. We 
longed to set foot on dry land once again. 

During the day the Governor and Adjutant- 
General of Iowa, with several other notables, 
visited our boat, as they said, to see what made 
us rebels hold out so obstinately against the 
"glorious Union." They were anxious to find 
out if we were not most willing to lay down our 
arms and come back to former allegiance. We 
inquired of them what inducements were offered, 
and if they expected to make us love them by 
stealing our negroes and making them equal with 
themselves, not us. We asked Mr. Adjutant- 
General if he was willing to fight beside a negro. 
No! but he was in for any possible means to 
subdue the rebellion. After an hour's gossip, in 
which I think they were not as successful as they 
anticipated, they took with a leaving. 

In the afternoon our guard was changed, the 
old guard going back to Vicksburg, and the 43d 



CAMP, FIELD AND PPwlSOiSr LIFE. 69 

Oliio taking charge of ns. They were rather 
Vallandigharaish, were well raised and educated, 
and had a fair conception of the consideration 
due a prisoner of war. 

That night we expected to weigh anchor and be 
off; but when the following morning dawned we 
found ourselves still in front of Memphis. We 
knew not the cause of the delay.. Some twenty 
sick prisoners were taken ashore and sent to the 
Memphis hospital. Two men of my conipan}^ 
were of the number. Poor fellows, I'm not sure 
that we will ever see them again. During the 
day one of the rebel Lieutenants pla3'^ed a Yankee 
trick on the Yankee nation. He exchanged his 
Confederate dress for citizen's garb, deliberately 
wallied aboard of a little boat that came along- 
side, went ashore, and I reckon is now in Dixie 
land. Our craft was anchored midstream as a 
safeguard against escape, yet several fellows swam 
ashore and got away the first night we stopped at 
Memphis. 

The monotony of the day was somewhat re- 
lieved, in my case, by finding two neiglibor boys 
of my youth prisoners on the same boat with me. 
With Sam, Maguire and John Walker I had gone 
to school many a day, but from long absence they 
had been almost forgotten, till my eye fell on their 
familiar faces. The surprise was mutual, and the 
meeting a happy one. They had lately heard 



70 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISO]^ LIFE. 

from onr old Kentucky home, and could tell me 
of many tilings that had transpired during the 
many long months that I had been cut off from 
communication with my people. 

It was four o'clock p. m. when we raised steam 
and bade adieu to the great Western city. The 
gunboat no longer accompanied us, for the Con- 
federates then seldom operated above Memphis. 
From Memphis to Cairo the trip was much more 
agreeable than below. We made better speed, 
and the atmosphere became cooler and seemed 
purer. The scenery was more varied, and there 
was a perceptible change in the soil for the better. 
Signs of habitation were more frequent, and many 
plantations were under cultivation. 

Some time during the night of the 30th we passed 
Fort Pillow, and in the forenoon of the next day 
we i)assed the well-known Louisville and Cincin- 
nati mail packet "Jacob Strader," with troops 
and sanitary stores for Vicksburg. The great 
difference between above and below Memphis is 
attributable to the horrors and ravages of war; 
the line of the river, on both sides, from IVIemphis 
to New Orleans being an active military theater. 

It was about nine o'clock at night when we 
passed Island No. 10, a once well-known Confed- 
erate fortress, which was taken by an investment 
rather than by force of arms. The island contains 
some sixty acres, and is well fortified. A number 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISO]^ LIFE. 71 

of troops were stationed there, and several gun- 
Iboats were tied np along tlie shore. The com- 
manding officer hailed onr fleet, but finding that 
onr cargo consisted mainly of Southern boys going 
up to board with Uncle Sam, and they not being 
contraband, under the circumstances, we were 
allowed to pursue our journey. 

Before daylight of June 1st we passed Colum- 
bus, Kentucky, and at eight o'clock stood in front . 
of Cairo, having been six and a half days out 
from Vicksburg, and traveled about six hundred 
miles. I don't know of a single one who was not 
fully satisfied with his boat ride, and willing to 
go into bond never to go aboard of a steamboat 
again, if it could be helped. "We were sickened 
out with too much of a good thing. 

I had all my life entertained a curiosity and 
anxiety to go down the river to New Orleans, 
imagining that, besides the sumptuous entertain- 
ment on a first-class ]N"ew Orleans packet, I v/ould 
find one almost continuous scene of magnificent 
plantations, splendid mansions, elegant cities and 
cosy villages, the whole being interspersed here 
and there with romantic cliff's, quaint places and 
picturesque shores. Though seen and enjoyed 
under disadvantageous circumstances, I'm sure 
the reality came far short of my conceptions. 
Experience has taught me that this world, as seen 
by the naked eye, is far from what it would appear 



72 ' CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

when magnified by the press and the representa- 
tions of others. In all my travels by land and by 
water I have seldom found a j)lace just what I 
anticijDated. Sometimes our imaginary pictures of 
persons, places and things in the distance are 
made too dim, but too often we magnify them. 

Tlie first day of June we were anchored in the 
mouth of the Ohio river, before the city of Cairo, 
which was once noted for thieves, pickpockets, 
murderers, blacklegs and every other class of in- 
humanity, but is now more civilized and refined. 
Were it not for its low position, being subject to 
overflow in high water, Cairo would, ere this, have 
been a large city, being naturally a central point 
and a terminus of the great Illinois Central Rail- 
road, and famous for its arrivals and departures 
of steamboats. A splendid levee has been con- 
structed at great expense, which renders the city, 
to some extent, proof against high water. It is a 
larger and better looking place than I expected to 
see, and was full of life and business. It was a 
great shipping point for military stores. We saw 
several gunboats anchored in the stream and others 
building. I noticed about thirty pieces of heavy 
artillery lying at the wharf, not mounted. A large 
number of new government ofiices, shops and 
storehouses were visible all about. During the 
day a number of steamboats arrived frofti and 
departed for St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati and 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOIS" LIFE. 73 

Memphis. In fact, Cairo exliibited more of the 
activity of olden times than any place I had seen 
for a long time. 

About noon General Buford, attended by Col. 
Spalding, of General Grant's staff, and who had 
charge of us prisoners, visited us. He was quite 
jovial, and talked freely and reasonably ; said he 
loved us, and was going to compel us to come 
back into the good old Union. He had the man- 
liness to acknowledge that he believed we were 
honestly deluded, and said he gloried in our spunk, 
but hoped we would soon be convinced of the error 
of our ways, and be willing to come back. After 
an hour's exchange of ideas, which differed widely, 
he left us in our glory and went his way rejoicing. 

All day long trains had been making up to 
carry us we knew not exactly where. Late in the 
evening two trains got off loaded with privates. 
While laboring under a bright recollection of how 
the Federals treated property, private as well as 
public, in Mississippi, I " confiscated " a haversack, 
of which we stood in need. It contained a plate, 
knife, fork, cup, spoon and other little articles to 
be found in a soldier's toilet. I acted in retalia- 
tion for wrongs that I had suffered. It's mighty 
hard for a soldier to follow the Bible doctrine in 
that particular. 

Between Memphis and Cairo I had written a 
long letter, portraying the acts and intentions of 



74 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOjST LIFE. 

the Northern army, as seen and expressed "before 
my eyes and hearing. I had the satisfaction of 
saying precisely what I thonght and felt, and I 
managed to hire a boy to mail it at Cairo to a 
friend at iiome. That was the last time np to 
date that I fully expressed my sentiments, but, 
though necessarily silent, my feelings are un- 
changed. 

June 2d. — In the forenoon transportation was 
ready for the balance of the prisoners. The offi- 
cers were honored with passenger cars, but the 
privates were shipped as live stock. When we 
had proceeded some thirty miles out on the Illinois 
Central, our limited privileges were suddenly cut 
short by a rather disagreeable incident. A Lieu- 
tenant belonging to my regiment jumped from a 
car window while the train was running, and made 
his escape back to the "land of cotton." The 
train was immediately stopped and a vain search 
made for tlie daring, reckless traitor, who had no 
time to tarry, but was making tracks for "Dixie." 
Colonel Spalding came through the train giving 
us a lecture ; said he had taken pains to make us 
comfortable and place us under as few restrictions 
as possible, trusting to our honor not to abuse the 
privilege, but that he must now double the guard 
and curtail our liberties. We were after that re- 
quired to keep the car windows down, and two 
guards were ];)laced at each door. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISO]^- LIFE. 75 

For some twenty miles from Cairo is a dense 
wilderness of small growth, and scarcely a house 
could be seen. Then we struck a better country, 
but it was lately cleared, and the houses were new 
and unpretentious, and their crops of wheat and 
corn, though late, looked well. As we got further 
into the interior, habitations became more fre- 
quent, and the villages along the road were numer- 
ous. In fact, it seems to be a favorite way for the 
people in that whole section to dwell in little 
towns. Presently we struck one of those broad 
and extended prairies so common in the Western 
country. Thousands of acres stretched out before 
the vision, with scarcely a hillock to disturb the 
uniform surface. 

Sometimes I noticed hundreds of acres under 
one fence, the various farms and crops being only 
separated by a turning row. Then again I saw 
vast pastures inclosed with fences constructed 
with posts and only two rounds of plank, well up 
from the ground. In these beautiful fields were 
every description of stock, luxuriating midst the 
rank prairie, herd and other grasses. And now 
again we rolled along for miles, seeing neither 
houses, fences nor trees ; nothing but great herds 
of horses and cattle roaming at large, being known 
only by each farmer's particular mark. 

As we glided along by the various farm houses, 
the women and children would come rushino: out 



76 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOISr LIFE. 

to see the rebels, who were rapidly wliiiiing on 
prisonward. The first town of any note that we 
came to was Duquoin, where a great multitude of 
all sorts had congregated to see the Vicksbnrg 
boys. To some of the prying and inquisitive the 
rebellonians would say, " Take a good look, gen- 
tlemen, the show is free," and sometimes a devilish 
chap would take off his hat and say, " Come up 
closer, and see my horns." Instead of finding us 
cowed, they would get ashamed of themselves 
and go away. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon we found our- 
selves at Centralia, a railroad junction of some 
importance. It is a beautiful town, and has many 
signs of wealth and prosperity. Here whole troops 
of the fair sex flocked out to see us. Many waved 
their snow-white 'kerchiefs and had a smile on the 
countenance, seeming to mean " hurrah for Dixie." 
As we had to stop for an opposing passenger 
train, we had an opportunity to talk with many 
of the citizens, and found right smart of the 
" Copperhead " spirit prevalent. 

All night long we rattled on over the Illinois 
prairies, and at daylight were at Terre Haute, 
Indiana, bound for Indianapolis. We were de- 
tained here several hours, and our field officers, 
some ten in number, were allowed to go up town 
for breakfast. Those of us who had greenbacks 
bought little things from the peddling boys. 



CAMP, FIELD AIS^D PRISON LIFE. 77 

Greenbacks were now all the go, Confederate 
money being worth from ten .to twenty-five cents 
on the dollar, and but few bnyers at that. On 
the way up from Yicksburg I exchanged thirty 
dollars at the rate of fifteen cents per dollar. 

Terre Hante is a large and handsome place, 
and full of thrift. The folks here looked kinder 
crooked at the Southern boys, and were not much 
inclined to talk. Mine eyes have never before 
beheld so many women and children as are all 
through that country. In a few more years Uncle 
Abraham will have a young army to relieve the 
sick and weary. 

The only man that I ever reall}^ wanted to harm 
in my life I found right here. The morning was 
sultry, and our car being crowded, it was almost 
suffocating when the train was- not in motion. A 
sergeant came through the cars, and I asked per- 
mission to raise a window just a little, for fresh 
air, which he gi'anted. In a few minutes a black 
Dutch soldier came along on the outside and yelled 
out to down with the window. At first I pretended 
not to hear him, hoping he would go on ; but when 
I saw he was determined to be heard, I turned to 
him and said the sergeant had given me leave to 
keep it up. He said it made no difference, the 
window must come down, I lowered it, and he 
went on, and I raised it again. Presently he 
appeared a second time, and poured forth his 



78 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

broken gibberish, I began to expostulate and 
reason with him, when he lowered his gun, cocked 
it, and swore he would blow my brains out if I 
did not close the opening straightway. I had read 
somewhere, when a little boy, a fable, the moral 
of which was, " Discretion is often the better part 
of valor." The happy thought struck me, and I 
acted upon it immediately }^f closing down the 
window, for I did not know but what he would be 
fool enough to fire away. Who would like to be 
unjustly ordered by and compelled to obey such 
a creature ? I can not better express my feelings 
toward^him than to say they were such as most 
of us generally experience Avhen we see a mean, 
venomous snake. 

Leaving Terre Haute about the middle of the 
forenoon of June 3d, we glided on at a good speed 
.through a fertile and thickly settled country, pass- 
ing a number of neat towns and hamlets, . and 
arrived at Indianax)olis at two o'clock. I had 
been to Indianapolis before, but under different 
auspices. 'Twas the day after the battle of " Bull 
Run ;" then I could laugh on the other side of my 
mouth. 

Though many prisoners had been in Indiana- 
polis, and one would have imagined they were no 
curiosity, the lawyers, the doctors, merchants, 
mechanics, women, children and contrabands all 
ran out to see us. They wanted to get one long, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 79 

lingering peep at tlie •' seceshers " who were trying 
so earnestly to break up the "glorious Union." 
The soldiers, too, left their barracks to do us 
homage. They were so very polite and kind- 
hearted as, to come out in full uniform, with shining 
bayonets, to see us well cared for. 

Inasmuch as we had left all our good clothes at 
Vicksburg, and had for several weeks lived in the 
rough, and without any change of clothing, we 
were truly a hard-looking party. No doubt the 
loyal lookers on imagined we loved fight better 
than dress, and thereby, in their own minds, 
accounted for why we usually whipped the Yan- 
kee boys so when we had a fair shake. 

After some fixing around, an escort was formed 
and we were conducted, not to " Camp Morton," 
as was lirst intended, but to " The Soldier's Home," 
in the suburbs of the city. It was really the 
nicest and most agreeable soldier's quarters I ever 
saw. It is a camp of instruction on rather a large 
scale, and the several rows of -neat cottages, with 
broad spreading oaks all about, and the nice 
graveled walks and ornamented grounds make it 
truly like a home. There are several wells of 
pure, cold, limestone water near by, and the build- 
ings being neatly white-washed, looked quite 
inviting. We, the " secesh " officers, 170 in num- 
ber, took lodgings in the spacious dining hall, 
which was clean and by far the best quarters we 



80 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOX LIFE. 

had occui^ied since Uncle Sam undertook to care 
for us. 

At four o'clock long rows of tables were set, 
and we partook of a delicious repast, prepared 
for us by the garrison cooks. We relished it the 
more because for some weeks we had been living 
sorter on the wing. In the evening I wrote to my 
mother, informing her of my good luck in finding 
myself alive, and telling her of my future pros- 
pects. 

That night we roosted on the floor, and the guard 
was so accommodating as to stay on the outside 
of the building, but they kept strict vigils over us 
while we slumbered. 

"We rose with the next day's sun, took a refresh- 
ing bath, and then a good warm breakfast. The 
difference between the temperature there and in 
our Southern home was quite perceivable. At an 
early hour curiosity seekers, those in search of 
old friends, newspaper correspondents and others, 
began flocking in to see us. By consent of the 
officer of the guard, but few were debarred the 
privilege of free intercourse. In one case a resi- 
dent of the city found his brother in our midst ; 
he did not seem to censure his course, but gave 
him money and clothing. A very interesting and 
affecting incident was the meeting of a young 
lady and her rebel brother. Some of our fellows 
found acquaintances who Avere renegades from the 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 81 

South, and oh ! but they were bitter against us. 
Many visited ns merely for the curiosity of find- 
ing out what we really thought about the affair. 
When we told them in unvarnished terms, they 
could not exactly see it in that light, but what 
was to be done about it ? 

The morning after our arrival a dirty little sheet, 
the Indianapolis Gazette, spoke of us in terms 
that some people would call left-handed compli- 
nif^nts, but, as the little boy did upon one occasion, 
we considered the source. It said, among other 
things, that we rebel officers were most as intelli- 
gent as the generality of their privates, and 
strongly intimated that, if we behaved ourselves, 
we were nearly as good as the flat-nosed sons of 
Ethio]Dia who are at the bottom of all this muss. 

The capital of Indiana is a large, well-built and 
flourishing city, and is one of the most pleasant, 
comfortable looking places I was ever in. It is a 
great railroad metropolis, at least a dozen roads 
centering at that point. The grand union depot 
from whence all the trains start is a magnificent 
affair. Trains are arriving and going at every 
hour of the day and night, and one unacquainted 
or unused to traveling would be perplexed about 
what train to get on to go in the desired direction. 
Considering how patriotically the State had res- 
ponded to every call for troops, we were astonished 
to find so many Southern sympathizers, elegantly 



82 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOk LIFE. 

denominated " Butternnts " by the Abolition fac- 
tion. 

The stubborn resistance to the draft shows the 
latent spirit that has been suppressed in the liearts 
of the people, not only of that State, but the whole 
North. The Democracy of the ]S"orth now see and 
feel that of which we were convinced more than 
two years ago, that the fanatical demagogues in 
their section would take away our liberties and 
destroy our institutions, even at the price of the 
Constitution, which the Democrac}' have tried to 
maintain in its purity. But it is now too late for 
them to retire from the unholy alliance. They 
can only use their powers of persuasion and en- 
treaty tliat the war be carried on as they thought 
it was begun, alone for the safety and perjDetua- 
tion of the Union and Constitution ; an appeal to 
arms, not words, must now settle the contest. 

At eight o'clock, p. m., Jvme 4th, we bade fare- 
well to Indiana's capital, and on board a good 
passenger train on the Bellefontaine road we hied 
away for the lakes. A crowd were at the depot 
to see the last of the "Dixie lads." All night we 
ran on over a good, easy riding road, but could 
form very little idea of the towns or country along 
the route. We passed through Bellefontaine just 
as streaks of gray began to appear in the East, 
and at nine o'clock were at Tiffan, Ohio. Long 
rows of large, elegant storehouses, beautiful man- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOX LIFE. S3 

sions, with tasteful surrounding embellishments, 
and towering, gilded steeples, were before us. 
The day before nine men had been arrested and 
sent to Johnson's Island for burning a church in 
the neighborhood because Abolition doctrines 
were preached from its pulpit. 

Though we passed through some splendid and 
flourishing lands in Ohio, there was not that fresh, 
inviting look about it as in Illinois and Indiana. 
Most of the soil has a red, sandy look, and seems 
as though it were worn out. In some localities 
timber is large and plentiful, but I noticed much 
scrub timber. 

The farms are mostly in good repair and well 
stocked, and all about the farm houses I noticed 
many conveniences not to be met with in the 
South. 

About midday we came in sight of Sandusky 
bay, and in a very little while were running over 
a trestle work some distance in the water, and 
when we looked out at the car window it seemed 
as if we had^taken wings and were Hying over the 
bay. In due time we cliecked up in the popu- 
lous and thriving city of Sandusky. As we neared 
the bay we could see our future prison home in 
the distance. It had a picturesque and pleasing 
appearance, and the star-spangled banner floated 
majestically over all. 

It could but bring curious thoughts and strange, 
indescribable feelings to think of going on that 
lone isle in the lake, to be shut up from the world 
for we knew not how long. 



84 CAMP, FIELD AiSTD PRISON LIFE. 



CHAPTER lY. 



Prison Home, Lake Erie, "I 

Near Sandusky, Ohio, July 26, 1SG3. > 

'Twas about two in tlie afternoon of June 5tli 
tliat we marched to the dock and took passage 
on a nice little steamer, the " Bonnie Boat,'' that 
constantly plies between the city and Johnson's 
Island, a distance of three miles. She glided like 
a swan through the pearly, placid water, and in 
twenty minutes we floated up against the island 
dock. But few of us had ever before been on a 
lake or seen a sail craft, of which dozens were 
now in sight, flitting about with the breeze, seem- 
ing to have no particular destination. Many of 
them were fishing smacks that rode at ease 
wherever the wind blew, trapping the finny tribe. 

We disembarked, and, marching between two 
files of blue-jackets, were halted in front of Major 
Pierson's quarters, where the laddies were called 
up, one by one, and politely advised to turn over 
their funds for safe keeping. Many of the gray- 
jacket gentry did not relish the idea, as they 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 85 

thoiiglit themselves quite old enoiigli to take 
care of tlieir own chink, besides having a slight 
presentiment that there might be a Yankee trick 
in it I had prepared for the emergenc}^ by putting 
away $300 in Confederate scrip in my other pocket, 
not visible to the outer world. Like a man, I 
forked over forty odd dollars, and opened wide 
my purse to show them that I was acting honest, 
and not keeping any back. 

Lieutenant Allen, of my company, had nearly 
$400, part his own, part belonging to members of 
our company, and the balance to Uncle Jeff, which, 
in the liuny of the moment, he had put in his 
day book, and aimed to secrete it in a pocket in 
his drawers, but he missed the hole, and when 
called up to " shell out," intending to give up 
some $20 he kept in his pocket book, the hidden 
treasure fell down his pants leg before the Yanks, 
and he j^Acked it up and planked out all his cash. 

Upon first sight, the island had quite a prepos- 
sessing appearance, being slightly sloped, having 
a nice sward of green grass, with here and there 
a stately shade tree. The cottages, offices and 
barracks were neat and clean, and, on the opposite 
side from where we landed, a beautiful forest made 
the whole look quite genial. The garrison con- 
sisted of " Hoffman's Battalion," w^hich had been 
on duty there since the first existence of the insti- 
tution. They were all dressed in the full uniform 



86 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISOTT LIFE. 

autliorized by army regulations, and formed quite 
a contrast to soldiers in active service. But few 
of our party had ever before seen sucli splendid 
uniforms, and some of tliem concluded tliat they 
surely were a stuck-np, aristocratic set of fellows. 
It seemed to them not in good taste for a soldier 
to have gloves on. Our uniform being so mottled, 
and so little cared for save as it gave comfort, the 
dissimilarity was so much more striking. 

Our fellows have now, however, got over their 
curious notions about Federal garb, and don't care 
how much they show off. We were forcibly im- 
pressed with the notion that fine dress and haughty 
demeanor don't constitute the soldier, and, though 
in parti-colored and seedy attire, we felt fully able 
to cope with the same number of those fine sol- 
diers, Avho had never heard a cannon except at a 
jubilee or celebration. 

Before entering the prison yard we'll take a 
view of the city and surrounding prospects. San- 
dusky is a place of smart merit and importance, 
being a port of entry for the lakes, and a system 
of railroads bringing it in close proximity to New 
York, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis 
and Canada. It is a brisk manufacturing place, 
quite a number of fine and commodious factories 
being in full blast, and her public edifices look 
quite as imposing as those of larger cities. From 
a communication with the citizens throuo;h the 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOIN" LIFE. 87 

press and otlier channels, we liave found out that 
they are deeply tainted with Black Republican- 
ism. The Avater front of the city, stretching along 
for nearly a mile, is in plain view of our island 
home. 

In surveying the high walls, the portals of which 
we were about to enter, and the surroundings, one 
could not be much elated with the idea or pros- 
pect of escape. I found out right away tliat the 
most pious and sensible course would be to resign 
myself to fate, and await the action of those in 
power, and I suited the action to the thought. 

Now we for the first time entered the walls of a 
prison in the capacity of prisoners of war. Some 
of our j)arty, who were surrendered at Fort Donel- 
son, spent last summer here, and know the prox3er 
inodus operandi. We could but feel somewhat 
unpleasant at the thought of being circumscribed 
by such narrow limits for an indefinite length of 
time, constantly guarded and. watched by a chain 
of sentinels whose beat was on the outside, and 
near the top of a wall some twelve feet high. 
Then the thought that we were to be subject to 
the mandates of those who were our known ene- 
mies was not cheering. But I am glad to say that 
prison life — in so well selected, arranged and 
conducted a place as this — has been far more 
agreeable than I anticipated. But of course there 
is no patriotic soldier who would not rather be 



88 CAMP, FIELD AIS^D PEISOI^ LIFE. 

battling and suffering for Ms country tlian stay in 
an enemy's prison, though lounging in ease, opu- 
lence and security. 

Very much like young fellows first going to 
college, we were smartly puzzled when we first 
entered, not knowing where to go or what to do. 
But a fellow who has been out soldiering some 
time learns to pitch in if he would do well. 
Learning that the first thing to be done was to 
get rooms, we split out for a choice. The squad I 
was in was to occupy Block 4. I got room No. 
19, having only four beds in it, hoping to avoid 
taking in another man, as myself and three 
Lieutenants filled the beds. We did not have to 
increase our number, and our room proved one of 
the best in the block. 

Our building contained eighty prisoners, divided 
into two messes, there being a dining and cook 
room for each, and a stove tolerably well supplied 
with vessels. Our cupboard ware consisted of tin 
plates, tin cups, knives, forks and spoons, and, 
though rustic in appearance, they served our pur- 
pose as fully as a lord's outfit. Our rations were 
the same as issued to the Federal soldiery, con- 
sisting of baker's bread, beef or bacon, coffee, 
sugar, rice, hominy, vinegar, soap and candles. 
My mess emploj^ed two regular cooks, .at $15 per 
month each. Whatever extra articles we got 
from the sutler we cooked for ourselves, and, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PKISOlsr LIFE. 89 

according to our notions, many a savory dish did 
we jjrepare. 

Our second day of prison life was spent in form- 
ing new acquaintances, getting posted as to the 
laws and regulations, and learning the ropes of 
the institution. Most all the prisoners we found 
here, some fifty in number, were citizens suspected 
of sympathizing with the rebellion. Confederate 
soldiers held as suspected spies, guerrillas, and 
eight unfortunate partisans of the South who had 
been tried and condemned as spies. They were 
kept in a small building in one corner of the prison 
yard, with balls and chains on their ankles and 
handcufl's, and we were not allowed to go near 
them. 

Two weeks previous to our arrival a couple of 
rebel captains were shot as spies, and two others 
were under sentence for execution the very day 
we got here, but for some reason they are yet 
permitted to live. Most of these men were con- 
demned in conformity with the infamous Order 
No. 38, I believe, of General Burnside. 

Several prominent and free-spoken newsj)apers 
in his Department were attempted to be sup- 
pressed in pursuance of the same order, but the 
mass, the advocates of the freedom of speech and 
the press, cried out against it, and were ready to 
vindicate those precious boons, by force if neces- 
sary. The papers continue to speak boldly of 



90 CAMP, FIELD AND PETSOX LIFE. 

tlie unautliorized and impolitic doings of tlie Ad- 
ministration. 

In accordance with the same vile order, Hon. 
C. L. Yallandigham, the champion of Democracy 
and the rights of the people in Ohio, was dragged 
from his home before a Military Commission for 
no offense against the military laws of the land, 
was found guilty of nothing the laws of his coun- 
try did not allow, and sentenced to banishment 
fi'om Northern soil. That is but a single item in 
the long catalogue of deep wrongs committed by 
those wielding power under a government where 
once the rights and the property of all were 
sacredly respected. 

The men we found in prison had been incarcer- 
ated from three to ten months. Against many of 
them no special charge had ever been instituted, 
and over and again an investigation of their 
cases had been promised. Some had been sen- 
tenced to confinement during the war. Several 
citizens have lately been released upon giving 
heavy bond and security. Most of them were 
from Kentucky. 

Our first Sunday in prison, June 7th, was rather 
a lonesome day, for, having no military duties to 
perform, nor an3^tliing to do or prepare for the 
morrow, many a one of us gave up the day to 
reflections concerning home, the hapj^iness once 
experienced there, and the prospect of ever again 



CAMP, FIELD AISTD PEISOIS- LIFE. 91 

greeting the loved ones and finding sncli a home 
as we once had. With little effort one can forget 
passing events and fall into a reverie to rehearse 
and pass before the vision of imagination the 
panorama of past life. As in a dream, the joj^s 
are sometimes almost real, but alas! something 
startles us from the reverie to find only fleeting 
phantoms where was once genuine life and hap- 
piness. 

During the day I wrote a letter home, thereby 
recalling many pleasing incidents and associa- 
tions, and almost feeling sad because I was doomed 
to spend days, weeks and months in an enemy's 
bastile, instead of the home circle, from whence 
the light of genuine, unfading happiness shines. 
But no sooner did I find myself temporizing in a 
desponding mood, than, by an effort, I dispelled 
all such thoughts from my mind, and resolved to 
have fortitude to bear up under whatever might 
be my fate. 

The Feds, had preaching in the chapel " on the 
outside," many ladies coming over from the city 
of Sandusky, possibly more for the novelty than 
the benefit of the thing. We poor devils are sin- 
ners trespassing against Uncle Abe's laws, so we 
must work out our own salvation. Late in the 
afternoon the garrison battalion went on dress 
jDarade, fixed up in their gayest attire, including 
blacked boots, a rare sight down in Dixie. They 



92 CAMP, FIELD A^J) PEISON LIFE. 

went tlirougli the various appropriate evolutions 
in good style, and a splendid brass band added 
materially to the interest of the performance. 
Many of the fellows from the South land had 
never seen a dress parade in so gorgeous a style, 
and many a curious remark and ludicrous sug- 
gestion was made by said rebellonians. 

Peojole at home have but little idea what Sun- 
day in camp is. No duty is dispensed with save 
drill — in fact, the recurrence of the day would 
often be forgotten but for somebody suggesting 
the propriety of putting on a clean shirt. How- 
ever, when there are services, there is generally a 
good attendance and strict attention. 

By Monday, our fourth day in limbo, we were 
pretty well up to the ways within that little 
world, and began to prepare for the siege. The 
first item of importance was to let all our friends 
know of our whereabouts and destitute condition 
generally, not forgetting to remind them that a 
little to wear, a little to eat and a little to spend 
would soothe our feelings monstrously. Many an 
old and long forgotten acquaintance was scraped 
up, generally for the supposed money value. 

Up to date the secesli gentry have had all kinds 
of luck. Some got help with a free good will ; 
some got it, the sender hoping to reap a rich re- 
ward hereafter. Others were proffered assistance 
if they would forswear themselves, and take the 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 93 

oath of allegiance to Uncle Sam's monarch}'. 
Some of the rebels played Yankee on the pre- 
tended generous and patriotic donors, by profess- 
ing to be of weak faith in the Southern cause, and 
rather forced into service by circumstances, inti- 
mating that they would leave the service soon as 
possible. It is easy to imagine their chagrin when 
the fellows would write back, acknowledging re- 
ceipt of funds, and divulging that it was a trick 
for a puqjose, saying that they ]proposed still to 
fight, bleed, and, if it needs be, die for the land 
of their nativity and love. 

That day I put my watch, my only relic of 
home, in pawn with the sutler for some things we 
wanted, with the privilege of redeeming it so soon 
as I got money from home. I bought some butter 
and potatoes as a kind of pastry to our soldier 
fare. The sutler has an establishment inside the 
prison walls, and is allowed to sell us anything 
not contraband of war. At first his prices seemed 
marvelously low, compared with Vicksburg rates, 
but now we find he makes a large profit. 

That day by ten o'clock the space all around 
the pump was lined with wash tubs, and many a 
one of the Southern chivalry, who in times not 
far away had not known what it was to wait on 
himself, might now have been seen with sleeves 
rolled up, and on his knees, washing his shirt, 
which he had not changed for a month. Some 



94 .CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOIT LIFE. 

were nalved to tlie waist, after pugilistic fashion, 
simply because tliey liad no clean sliirts to put on 
while they washed the dirty ones. Some were 
scalding their blankets, partly to get the dirt out 
and in part to slay the " gray-backs " obtained on 
the boats coming up the Mississi23pi. 

Having some days previous made a requisition, 
and my appearance being a sufficient voucher 
that the articles were needed,!, on the 10th day 
of June, drew from Uncle Abraham's bounty a 
pair of pants, socks and drawers, bargaining to 
pay for them in board, as he keeps us cheap. In 
fact, he will have us stay with him whether or 
not, and he was so anxious to have us sojourn 
with him for a time that he actually furnished 
transportation gratis all the way from Vicksburg, 
almost a thousand miles. 

Having undergone so many privations and 
severities, and being so long cooped up on a boat, 
I now began to feel the deleterious effects, nor 
was I by any means alone in being under the 
weather. My ailment seemed to be nothing more 
than general debility, a loss of appetite, attended 
with a languid feeling. The day after that was 
rainy and gloomy, such as are complete bores 
indoor, unless one has some employment. Making 
rings of gutta percha buttons was a favorite occu- 
pation with the prisoners to wear away the time. 
Those who had friends north of Dixie could send 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOISr LIFE, 95 

tliem specimens of their workmansliij), some of 
which was really exquisitely nice. An ingenious 
fellow would take a gutta percha rule and some 
buttons, and a few bits of shell, silver or gold, 
and, with no implements but a knife and lile, in 
a little while be able to show rings and other trin- 
kets not to be scorned even in comparison with a 
jeweler's stock. He would cut the shell and 
precious metals into squares, diamonds, hearts, 
triangles and other shapes, which, neatly fitted 
and imbedded into the face of the polished black 
surface, added to the beauty of both by the con- 
trast. 

M}^ room had almost been turned into a ring 
manufactory, our little shelf being piled full of 
rude, home-made tools and material, and my 
companions were filing and gouging away right 
earnestly, as though they were convicts, with a 
task before them. As I never had any mechani- 
cal genius, I contented myself with looking on 
and making suggestions. Some of the prisoners 
who had been there for a long time, and expected 
to remain till Gabriel sounds his trump, had man- 
aged to procure complete sets of tools, and made 
it pay by disposing of their trinkets at fair prices, 
the Yankee boys buying many of them as curio- 
sities for their friends and sweethearts. 

The next few days were clear and fine, and the 
only record I have of them is that I obtained some 



96 CAMP, FIELD ATSTD PRISON LIFE. 

medicine from the post surgeon and formed the 
acquaintance of a rebel officer, a nephew of Gen. 
Breckenridge, who couhl tell me of many of my 
old friends about Maysville, Kentucky. In the 
afternoon of June 15th there arrived 150 prisoners 
from Camp Chase. They were privates, and were 
sent there for some special reason, as the prison 
was intended exclusively for officers. They were 
from various parts of our army, and had been 
captured some two, some ten months. As they 
filed past my quarters I got a glimpse of one that 
I took to be a neighbor boy of my youth. As 
soon as they got settled I made search and found 
that he was the same. He had joined Scott's 
Louisiana cavalry last fall, when Gen. E. Kirby 
Smith was in Kentucky, and losing his horse, was 
left behind, and evaded the enemy till a few weeks 
since, when they nabbed him up at home. 

That was a memorable day with me, for I got a 
letter from my mother, the first one since I left 
her side, two years before, to try my fortunes in 
the South. Having been cut off from communi- 
cation with home, I was totally ignorant of the 
state of aifairs. The missive was full of interest- 
ing news, which I swallowed down like a sponge 
imbibes water, and the kind, sympathetic words 
of my mother made my heart swell and flutter 
with ecstatic joy, and my soul felt that it was 
good to be once more in communion with my best 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 97 

friend on earth. As I read the endearing mater- 
nal sentiments, briny tears coursed their way 
down my cheeks, and for a good while I was 
overcome with feelings that pen can not portray, 
and only those can appreciate who have been 
similarly situated. 

The next day went off wearily to me, for I was 
indisposed, and that intensified my thoughts of 
the comforts and endearments of home. The day 
following the Federal corporal who came into my 
room to see if all was right brought me a lump of 
ice, for which* I was very thankful, and which 
helped me very much. I relished the cold ice 
even more than my food, and for a week used no 
other water. During the day about sixty officers 
came in from the prison at Alton, Illinois. They, 
with a number of privates, had been started for 
exchange, but were stopped at Pittsburg and sent 
here, as we all supposed, on account of retaliatory 
measures. The bad faith with which both parties 
have kept the cartel agreed upon for exchange 
has caused many a gallant man to languish and 
die in prison. Thousands of soldiers are now 
suffering in prisons, who, at a word from those in 
power, could be honorably exchanged and serving 
their cause. 

Little incidents are constantly occr^rring in mili- 
tary affairs which in civil times would be regarded 
as almost inhuman, but are now lightly passed 



98 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOX LIFE, 

over and forgotten, save by those smitten witli tlie 
iron rod of despotism. It was the 19th day of 
June that the parents of a young Missouri officer 
came to see him, he having "been absent from them 
for almost two years. After pleading and trying 
in vain to see him, they left with saddened and 
embittered hearts because of such uncalled for 
treatment. From Sandusky City they sent him 
some clothing and money, with their sympathies 
and blessings, then retraced their way to the old 
homestead, where one seat of that once happy 
family is vacant. 

The same day a few more Southern gentr}^ came 
in, and I received a message from a lady friend 
in the home land, it being of peculiar interest 
because it led me anew over the paths and with 
the lasses of my youthful days. 

It w^as about that date that we heard of the death 
of Lieutenant Read, of our regiment, who we had 
left sick at Indianapolis. He was taken to the 
Camp Morton hospital, and our men, all of wdiom 
had been taken to that prison, were with him for 
help and comfort in his last moments. He was a 
noble fellow, respected and beloved by all who 
knew him at home and in the army, and an affec- 
tionate family are left in East Tennessee to mourn 
his loss. 

The 23d and 24th were dull, heavy days, nothing 
of any interest transpiring within our walls. I 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 99 

obtained permission from the post commandant 
to send liome for clothing and money. For some 
ten days previous tlie armies of Generals Lee 
and Hooker had been very active. Hooker had 
changed his base to the front of Washington, and 
the people of Pennsylvania were alarmed for fear 
of an invasion, and not without cause, and effect 
too. The story of a disastrous defeat of the Fed- 
erals at Port Hudson some weeks ago has just 
leaked out. It appears that a select storming 
party attempted to scale the redoubts, but had to 
give back with great slaughter. 

Vicksburg, the proud monument of Southern 
valor, still stands, notwithstanding the satellites 
of General Grant proi30sed to eclipse its glory 
several weeks ago. There, too, have the Federals 
met with some of those terrible repulses which 
rash Generals, in their zeal for conquest and glory, 
have brought upon their soldiers, who know noth- 
ing but to obey those whose duty it is to command 
with prudence as well as courage. In this inter- 
national struggle, thousands have fallen victims 
to the inconsiderate judgment of inefficient com- 
manders. 

General Joe. Johnston ain't far off from Vicks- 
burg, and is watching with an eagle's eye an 
opportunity to take advantage of Grant, and give 
relief to the gallant army besieged therein. June 
25th was a calm, pleasant day ; scarcely a wave 



100 CAMP, FIELD AJfD PEISOl^ LIFE. 

rippled tlie bosom of the lake that stretched out 
before and around ns. The day was in every wise 
suitable for the excursion party that went out that 
morning in the "Island Queen," a nice little craft 
fitted up specially for excursions. 

The Queen, with loyal pennons floating on the 
breeze, and a jolly crew and cargo, came alongside 
Mr. Johnson's Island to get a peep at the " Rebel 
Home," and the ladies waved their white 'kerchiefs 
as if to tantalize us, for they well knew we would 
liked to have been in their stead, with our sweet- 
hearts from Dixie by our side. Our only consola- 
tion was the thought that all things work together 
for the best, and that our day would come bye 
and bye. 

The next day was consumed by the usual routine 
of prison life, and the ensuing one we were rein- 
forced by eighty naughty fellows who couldn't see 
the thing in an abolition light. And at that iden- 
tical date the arch rebel Robert E. Lee was threat- 
ening both Washington and Harrisburg, producing 
consternation North and gladness South. During 
the last days of June several Federal officers were 
going through our prison trying to enlist a com- 
pany of Confederates for loyal service in the Rocky 
Mountains, being afraid to trust them anywhere 
else. They succeeded in gulling a few into the 
trap by means of a nicely woven and brightly 
painted story. Their gain was also ours, for in 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 101 

almost every case, tlieir converts were men who 
had been driven into Southern service by public 
sentiment or the conscription act. For some days 
I had been fast convalescing from my weakness 
and debility, and now felt almost like a new man. 
About a prison, as well as about a camp, there 
is always a "grape vine telegraph," operated by 
some unknown, mysterious agent, sometimes de- 
nominated "Madame Rumor," Every now and 
then, when there is no exciting news, and most 
all hands are moodily groping about, soliloquizing 
and theorizing upon the dim future, she makes 
known some startling and often thrilling event 
that has occurred or will take place. 

This time, July 1st, a dispatch says that the 
Commissioners, Messrs. Ludlow and Ould, are 
busy fixing up a new cartel of exchange, for a 
general and speedy release of all parties in the 
hands of the enemy. So much did we desire such 
an action that the very whisper of a probability 
gave unction to our feelings and spirits, even 
though we had a hundred times been deceived by 
similar reports. 

One pleasant feature of that day which I knew 
to be true, for I witnessed it, was the receipt of 
$25.00 from Baltimore by Lieutenant Allen, of my 
company. I could readily appreciate how uncti- 
ons it was, for I knew part of it would go for butter 



102 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOX LIFE. 

to go on our biscuits, and for various otiier little 
tricks to be shared by our little family of four. 

The merchants of Baltimore have done a gener- 
ous part by the Southern officers in confinement 
here, having sent fully $1,000 to the sons of those 
who were their patrons from the South in civil 
times. 

General Bragg has just fallen back from Tulla- 
homa— as we predict — because of having sent so 
mau}^ of his forces off to the support of Jolinston, 
and finding himself unable to cope with the over- 
whelming force of General Rosecrans. Besides, 
he can find equally as strong a position between 
Chattanooga and Bridgeport, to attack which it 
will require months of preparation by " old Ros}^," 
since he will be so much further from his base of 
biipplies, and will require so much more force to 
guard his rear from the raids of our cavalry. 

Perhaps by the time he is ready to give fight 
the urgent necessity for troops elsewhere will have 
ceased, and Bragg be able to draw his men back 
again. Anyhow, that's our consoling- mode of 
reasoning. 

It would seem from the IS'orthern papers of the 
past few days that " Uncle Robert Lee " was every- 
where, and the Feds, afraid to strike any one 
place, for fear he will turn up somewhere else, not 
to their advantage. General Ewell, with his t'::-n 
thousand veterans left under his guardian care by 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE, 103 

tlie immortal " Stonewall Jackson," was threaten- 
ing HarrislDiirg, which was gnarded by thirty 
thousand militia, under General Couch. Long- 
street, Hill, and some other Southern leaders, not 
unknown to fame, were in various quarters, and 
might at any time pounce upon Washington or 
Baltimore. Then the whereabouts and doings of 
Stuart's, Fitz Hugh Lee's and Jenkin's cavalry 
was full of mystery. 

At the same time there was stirring news from 
the Mississippi, too ; Kirby Smith and Price were 
reported not far from Vicksburg, threatening to 
cut off Grant's supplies. Some rebel force had 
almost completely wiped out the nigger regiments 
at Millikin's Bend, and General Dick Taylor was 
making somebody smell frost way down in Louis- 
iana. 

The 2d day of July we were allowed to go 
swimming in the lake. The water was clear and 
pleasant, and one hundred yards from the shore 
was not over waist deep, which made it delightful 
bathing. A guard was placed on the bank to 
watch us, and pop a fellow if he proved to be too 
expert a swimmer, and made off for the mainland. 

That day the magnetic, not grape-vine, telegraph 
brought tidings that the 1st of July Meade and 
Lee had a fight, the contest being undecided at 
nightfall. The tone of the dispatches was any- 
thing but jubilant. General Meade was a new 



104 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

commander, and naturally the army liad not im- 
plicit conlidence in liini, because so many of their 
prime commanders had, in the hour of greatest 
need, failed, and been laid in the shade. " Fight- 
ing Joe Hooker's" light has expired, and he is 
turned out to graze. 

Just see the consistency in the acts of the Fed- 
eral administration. Hooker ordered the evacua- 
tion of Harper's Ferry that he might concentrate 
and make his army more powerful. Maj or-G-eneral 
Halleck, the " Dictator," ordered General French 
not to respect that nor any other order of Hooker, 
but to listen to Jiim. Hooker said if he was to 
command the army, he must dictate his own policy, 
and asked to be relieved, which was done. 

The very first act of his successor. Gen. Meade, 
was to withdraw the troops from Harper's Ferry. 

Meade is the seventh Maj or- General who has 
commanded the army of the Potomac, each having 
been relieved because he failed to out-manceuver 
and whip Robert E. Lee, acknowledged by Gen. 
Winfield Scott and the rest of the knowing ones 
to be the master military mind in America. Never 
in the annals of warfare has a nation who could 
boast of so many men with superior military 
educations failed so signally in producing one 
who could give satisfaction either to the adminis- 
tration or populace. 

Nor is it to be wondered at when the facts in 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 105 

the case are considered. At the beginning the 
people of the North conceived that the spirit of 
revolution could be crushed in three short months, 
and with 75,000 men. Being deceived in that, 
they began to count the facilities and materials 
each party had to raise, equip and subsist an 
army, and taking into consideration the disad- 
vantages under which we would labor, because of 
our ports being blockaded, and we severed from 
intercourse with the outer world, their fertile but 
not considerate imaginations led them to believe 
that they had the power and the means to wipe 
out the rebellion so soon as an army could be 
organized. History and the deeds of our fore- 
fathers had not taught them by powerful examples 
that eight millions of people, armed in the holy 
cause of liberty, were not so easily quelled. 

What a great relief it is for one who has not 
seen home or friends for many long months to be 
able to communicate therewith, and draw comfort 
and pleasure from their stores of hospitality and 
love. Such is my situation now. On the 3d of 
July I had just finished washing my clothes and 
scalding my blankets, when the mail brought me 
an affectionate letter from my mother, with $20.00 
inclosed to ameliorate my physical wants. Only 
those who have been far away from friends and 
in need can appreciate the gratification produced 
by such a receipt. Concurrent circumstances 



106 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

almost made me forget my hard lot, and conclude 
that my situation was enviable. In the afternoon 
thirty prisoners were brought in from JSTashville, 
who belonged to Bragg's army, and with some of 
whom I had served in the early part of tlie war. 

Here is the substance of what I find in my 
memorandum for July 4th: "This morning, at 
early dawn, we were aroused from our slumbers 
by the sharp peals of cannon not far away. It 
put me in mind of the roar of our batteries on the 
river at Yicksburg. A couple of brass 6-pounders 
were firing in celebration of the S?th anniversary 
of American independence. Perchance, in a few 
more years, we of the South will commemorate 
some other day as our birthday as a free and 
independent nation. This day is calculated to 
bring to each of our memories many pleasing and 
some sad incidents and reflections. The life and 
hilarity of the citizens in this region remind us 
of the joyous times we've had in years gone by 
round about our own homes. In the inland regions 
picnics and the incident festivities seem to be all 
the go, while here on the lake shore excursions to 
the islands and elsewhere on the beautiful lake 
are the order of the day. 

" At nine o'clock this morning the " Island 
Queen," with a full cargo of live and happy flesh, 
steamed out from Sandusky to spend the day at 
Kelly's Island around the convivial board and in 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOJST LIFE, 107 

dancing, and to-niglit slie makes a grand moon- 
light trip. AYe in onr island home are spending 
the day generally in talking and thinking rather 
than acting. Who is there that can contemplate 
this onr national birthday without feelings akin 
to grief? ' 

"When we think of the good old constitutional 
palladium, that grand, beautiful and powerful 
temple, under whose shadow we were born, and 
under whose guardian protection we have grown 
up from an infant republic to be the most able 
and prosperous nation on earth, and see that noble 
fabric perverted to unworthy purposes, dismem- 
bered, dishonored, it makes us feel unhappy. 
Altliough honor and all for which we live have 
compelled us to dissever the alliance with those 
who shared the boon equally with us, still we cling 
to its genuine, intrinsic principles, and are aiming 
to take them from a mass of corruption to an ark 
of safety in a goodly land, and we have staked 
our lives and our fortunes for their protection and 
perpetuity." 

Tlie 5th day of July was hot and sultry. To 
change the monotony of prison life, on Sunday 
we had preaching by a rebel minister. There was 
good attendance, strict attention, and all professed 
to be well paid in listening to the discourse, which 
was plain, unvarnished and to the point. 

While so many thousands were dissipating and 



108 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOIS- LIFE. 

taking life easy on the 4tli of July, the two master 
armies of the continent, that had been fighting 
and manoenvering in Pennsylvania for several 
days, were struggling and dying in an intensely 
severe contest at Gettysburg. The loss in Federal 
general officers was the most startling ever known, 
no less than fourteen being killed, wounded or 
captured. A Wisconsin regiment which went into 
the fight on the 3d came out with but forty-six 
men and a single officer, him wounded. And 
while all this was going on, the ranks ot General 
Lee were being sadly depleted. He made seven 
unsuccessful attempts to storm one position of the 
enemy. In the charges hundreds fell, and General 
Archer and nearly his whole brigade were cap- 
tured, and the officers are now here. 

The Sandusky Register of July 6th said General 
Lee was defeated and Longstreet killed, but they 
both yet defiantly ride the storm. The succeeding 
day a letter from home announced that there was 
a box of clothing on its way to me, and it made 
me feel good all over, for my stock on hand was 
exceedingly slim, and besides they were not from 
my own dear home. The same day I bought some 
gutta percha buttons, preparatory to going into 
the ring manufacture, and at the same time I pur- 
chased a fifty pound sack of flour at $2.50. 

We get tired of nothing but baker's bread, and 
a biscuit now and then is a luxury. Most of us 



CAMP, FIELD A^B PRISOl!^ LIFE. 109 

imagine that we can fix up about as good biscuits 
as the ladies ; anyway, they taste as well to a 
hungry fellow. I may as well here state that my 
ring business proved disastrous ; I lost one button, 
spoiled a second, and made a botched job of the 
third, after which I became disgusted with the 
profession, and turned my remaining stock over 
to a more expert artisan. 

Thirty odd officers of Bragg's army arrived at 
our house July 8th, and among them were several 
who had been captured at Perryville, Kentucky, 
in the fall of 1862, some minus a leg, some with 
an arm off, and several others on crutches. It 
seemed strange for the enemy to keep them so 
long, especially as they could do them no harm 
if released. 

That day the report was that Vicksburg had 
fallen, and at night cannons fired, and the showers 
of sky rockets in Sandusky City looked beautiful 
from our little island home. We didn't put much 
stress on the news from Vicksburg, but next morn- 
ing came a confirmation of the report, bearing on 
its face the shadow of plausibility. Various and 
curious Were the speculations in all parts of the 
prison as to the veracity of the dispatch, and the 
probable consequences if it were true, and some 
were excited and anxious to bet that our noble 
city was yet standing. 

At that date General Lee was at Williamsport, 



110 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOlSr LIFE. 

massing liis troops, either for a fracas or to e\'acu- 
ate Maryland, and the Yankees could not deter- 
mine which. They reported his loss in the late 
engagements at 30,000, theirs at 12,000 ; one was 
too much, the other too little. 

It would seem that the notorious and ubiquitous 
John Morgan made his entrance into Kentucky 
early in July, and captured the 20tli Kentucky 
regiment of 400 men at Lebanon, where his brother, 
Lieutenant Tom. Morgan, was killed. Tommy 
was a former schoolmate of mine, and was a noble 
boy and gallant officer. 

A telegram of the 9th said that Morgan's band 
had captured two transports below Louisville, and 
crossed over into Indiana. The people of Northern 
Kentucky were in an uproar, some praying that 
the Morgan men might come, others that they 
might never come, for horse-flesh generally took 
with a leaving wherever Morgan's boys went. 



CAMP, FIELD ATTD PEISOT>r LIFE. Ill 



CHAPTER Y. 



Rebel's Retreat, off Sanduskt, Ohio, \ 
July SI, 1S63. i 

While I was quietly revolving in my mind what 
should be the order of the day after I had eaten 
a hearty breakfast July 10th, I heard my name 
called, and went out, and with gladness met the 
express messenger with my box from home. The 
officer of the guard examined it, and finding no 
contraband, I, with triumphal look and feeling, 
bore the trophy off to my room, while many a 
poor fellow who had no friends up North to help 
him looked after me, thinking, "I wish it was I." 
My box contained many nice articles of apparel, 
and the pictures of m}^ mother, sister and grand- 
mother. Olden times and scenes were made fresh 
to my mind, and I almost involuntarily wished I 
were in the midst of those scenes again. 

But such desires were only produced by the 
sympathetic impulses of the moment, for in reality 
I have no desire to go to my home as matters now 
stand. I could not feel that I was a freeman, nor 



112 CAMP, FIELD Al^D PEISON LIFE. 

could I, except for a sliort time, enjoy the com- 
pany of those with whom in other days I loved to 
be. I hav^e cast my lot and my all with a cause 
containing all the constituent elements that make 
life agreeable and home pleasant, nor till the fate 
of that cause is decided do I wish to return to my 
home. 

About ten o'clock at night July 11th, we heard 
a heavy cannonading in an unknown quarter out 
across the lake. Some of us were conceited enough 
to imagine that some Confederates had slipped 
through, captured a vessel, and were making far 
Johnson's Island to give us a lift over into Canada. 
All over the prison fellows were scouting about, 
trying to learn what was up. 

The Sandusky paper of next morning s^aid it 
was a celebration at Toledo ; it also announced 
that John Morgan was in Indiana with 7,000 cav- 
alry. The news from Vicksburg was vague and 
unsatisfactory. They didn't know exactly what 
General Lee was doing, but the predominating 
impression was that he was manoeuvering to bring 
on an engagement near Antietam, where a san- 
guinary battle had already been fought. 

Morgan and his raiders turned up at Salem, 
Indiana, the very next day, captured 500 prisoners, 
burned the depot, and was.gone. General Hobson 
seemed to be after him, with 4,500 men. Southern 
accounts say that Lee captured 40,000 and killed 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 113 

half as many during his Pennsylvania raid, an 
exaggeration almost equal to that of the Northern 
press. Extracts from Southern papers represent 
our prospects as never brighter. Momentous 
events have been and are transpiring on the arena 
of military action, and a few months may bring 
startling changes for better or worse. 

By consulting my diary for July 13th, I find 
that it was damp and chilly, a stiff gale blowing 
nearly all the time, and heavy waves and foaming 
white caps lashing the shores of the lake. The 
little fishing barks all took down their sails and 
were hugging the shores. That evening Colonel 
Gregg, of my regiment, took supper with us, we 
having pie, biscuit and butter, extra items to sol- 
dier fare 

A singularity in camp life is that, although 
soldiers are generally on fair terms, they compara- 
tively seldom visit the quarters of each other, or 
extend invitations to take tea. It is just like in 
a great city. Often men camp for months within 
a few yards of each other without intermixing or 
knowing each other. As a common thing, a sol- 
dier's rations are no more than he can eat himself, 
and he don't care to call in help, nor is there often 
an inclination on the part of others, as they have 
just as good themselves. 

The dispatches of that date said Morgan's raid 
was extending into Ohio, and General Hobson 



114 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

was still just a few hours iu liis rear, the proba- 
bility being that he deemed it prudent to keep an 
amicable distance between columns. John Mor- 
gan's boys cared about as much for the militia as 
a horse does for a fly — they are annoying, but 
not dangerous. At one place in Indiana the Fed- 
erals cut the road full of trees for fifteen miles to 
imj^ede the progress of the raiders. Most probably 
while they were felling the timber Morgan was 
quietly going along some adjacent road. General 
Grierson's raid through Mississippi is thrown en- 
tirely in the shade by this daring attempt. 

Gunboats have become so famous and so neces- 
sary to any marine enterprise, in the estimation 
of the Northern soldiery, that they even have a 
craft of that nature upon these waters. During 
the afternoon of the 1 5tli the sloop of war " Michi- 
gan" came gliding into the port of Sandusky. 
We could not surmise the intent of her visit, un- 
less it was to pacify us and let us know we were 
safe, and to warn Jack Morgan of the danger of 
trying to cross the lake as he had the Ohio. 

There has been a time when the prowess of 
iron-clads was claimed by the Federals and 
acknowledged by us. After the battle of Shiloli, 
the gunboats at Pittsburg Landing sheltered the 
flying Federals and terrified our men, thereby 
causing a drawn battle when victory was in our 
grasp; and, for some time after, the iron-clads 



CAMP, FIELD A^D PRISON LIFE. 115 

roamed tlie kings of the waters. But, before tlie 
year 1862 liad died out, gunboats had dwindled 
down from elephantine proportions to almost pig- 
mies in the estimation of the Southern soldiery. 

General Wheeler astonished the Yankee nation 
by charging and taking a gunboat on the Cum- 
berland river, with cavalry, and ofttimes since 
have the would-be monsters fallen a prey to the 
valiant, unflinching sons of the South. 

The press says Lee has recrossed the Potomac, 
and the Federal populace are railing out against 
General Meade for not taking him in. But 'tis 
now too late, "the bird has flown," and the only 
remedy will be to lay brother Meade in the shade, 
and manufacture another great commander out of 
mediocre military talent. The New York World 
said : " If Lee succeeds in recrossing the Poto- 
mac, he will be the victorious party, but if Meade 
can succeed in capturing his army, he may be 
regarded as having got the best of the game." 
Now, if the World man spoke words of wisdom 
and truth. Uncle Robert E. wears the crown of 
success, and has driven to the rear many fine 
teams, horses, cattle, mules and precious stores. 

And they say, too, the rebellion is nearly dead, 
when the rebel army can go hundreds of miles 
into their territory, and carry ofi" rich sj)oils — 
staying several weeks to collect them. Though 
the Confederacy is so near played out, they have 



116 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PEISON LIFE. 

to steal our darkies, and by draft force tlieir own 
people into the ranks to keep tlie nanglitj, bold 
Southern lads off of ]S"orthern soil 

For an instance of the rigors, cruelties and 
horrors of war, turn to the siege of Yicksburg, 
There, during a temlic bombardment of forty- 
seven days, several hundred w^omen and children 
were shut up in those fiery walls, living in holes 
and caverns dug out in the steep banks, and sub- 
sisting on the roughest and most meager soldier 
fare. Several were wounded, and some even torn 
into fragments by the barbarous shells of the 
enemy. In a list of the former I noticed the name 
of Miss Lucy Rawlings, a highly accomplished 
lady, and an intimate acquaintance of mine. 

History tells of dauntless and heroic courage 
exhibited by women in other days of trial and 
turmoil, and their sisters of now are not w^anting 
in those traits. The valor and uncompromising 
firmness and fidelity of the women of this genera- 
tion will shed a lustrous brightness over the pages 
of its history that is as yet unwritten except in 
the minds and the hearts of the people ; and when 
the cessation of this strife allows us to return to 
the quiet, pleasant shades of home, we can more 
highly appreciate woman's worth, and will respect 
and love her more dearly than ever. 

So many items concerning affairs inside the 
lines at Yicksburg, together with the official cor- 



CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISON LIFE. 117 

respondence of Pemberton and Grant, are now 
filling the ISTorthern papers, that most of us are 
willing to concede that both Vicksburg and Port 
Hudson are no longer ours. The one taken, the 
other is no longer of any consequence This is a 
great event in our struggle for independence. 

For more than a year, by holding two far sepa- 
rate points on the Mississippi, we have held in 
check two mighty armies of the North, and cut 
off national commerce on the " Father of Waters." 
Now they have, by dint of perseverance and ball- 
dog strength, succeeded in cutting in twain our 
infant nation, and partially succeeded in opening 
the track of the river, but never — till we are sub- 
dued — can they claim the Mississippi as wholl}'' 
their own. Every cargo of flesh or stuff sent South 
will be at a hazard. 

Our mail of July 16th brought a check and a 
letter donating $10.00 each to twelve Alabama 
officers. The gift was from a young lady in Du- 
buque, Iowa, who once lived in the South, and 
profoundly sympathized with us and our cause. 
The next several days was pleasant weather, and 
nothing new or strange passing in our midst. All 
that I had to relieve the tedium of the hours, ex- 
cept the little duties incident to keeping our roonl 
in order, was a sweet-scented, delicate billet-doux, 
a reminiscence of olden times about Clay Village, 
Ky. Full many scenes and incidents through 



118 CAMP, FIELD AKD PEISOIST LIFE. 

wMcli I had passed in days of yore were made 
vivid again, and I reveled once more with haj)py 
feelings 'midst those realms of elysian joy. 

The cry of foreign intervention again resounds 
through the land, and the whole press is agitating 
the question, as to its probability, results and the 
manner of disposing of the elephant. Matters, 
and the relations of kingdoms and nations in 
Europe, have assumed such a shape that hostile 
acts on the part of any of them would not be 
very surprising. But we have had the soft chat 
of intervention in our behalf whispered in our 
ears so often that it ha? ceased to be a balm to 
our hopes and anticipations. 

The time was when we would not have given up 
the Federal Government for the essence of all the 
rest on earth. The time is when we would gladly 
welcome an alliance with France, for therein we 
can see some hope for freedom, prosperit}^ and 
happiness, while the gulf between us and the 
North seems so wide and so beset with every- 
thing uncongenial and unpropitious that the 
breach could never be healed. 

The Federal Government look upon interven- 
tion as a not wholly improbable thing, they, as well 
as we, believing that interest, not love, would 
actuate other nations to interfere on our side. 
Uncle Abraham and his long-headed minions 
well know that they can't fight us and a foreign 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 119 

foe at the same time, and those who claim to have 
an inside, view of matters say that they are now 
fixing up a pro]30sition to the South to this effect : 
That Missouri be a free State ; that the people of 
Maryland, Delaware and Kentucky decide by a 
vote as to slavery or no slavery ; that the rest of 
the States hold their original status ; that we be 
"high fellow well met" again, and pitch the 
Northern army into Canada, the Southern into 
Mexico, increase our territory, and win a fame 
that will astonish the world. It sounds nice, but 
it don't taste -good, and we can't swallow it. 

When the daylight of the 21st instant ushered 
out of darkness, we found that we had been rein- 
forced by four hundred veterans from Lee's army. 
It w^as a splendid battalion, composed entirely of 
officers, from the rank of Brigadier- General down, 
General Archer in command. But now the Gen- 
eral has been relieved of his sword, and Major 
Pierson is lord of us all. We work with our 
jaws and drill with our teeth ; the Federal senti- 
nels on the parapet have charge of the guns. 

Never were a more gallant set of men, or men 
who had braved an enemy's galling fire oftener, 
marched into an enemy's prison house. They are 
a band of veterans worthy to be likened to the 
" Emperor's Guard." Among them I found Cap- 
tain Horace Blanton, a schoolmate of mine at 
the Kentucky Military Institute just before the 



120 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

war. He could tell me of many old cliums who 
were weathering the storm, and of some who had 
rendered up their lives in the cause of their 
native land of the South. They seemed not yet 
quite sure that Vicksburg was gone up, and 
expressed even less faith in some folks than we 
had, measuring theirs by an infinitely minute 
apparatus. 

The last day's fight around Gettysburg was 
described as the most terrible in which they had 
ever engager", and they were somewhat capable 
of judging of a fracas. Like Morgan's men, they 
were dreaded by the foe, and since their arrival 
the sentinels and officers have been more vigi- 
lant — all the guards now carrying, in addition to 
their usual accoutrements, a six-shooter, to make 
the secesh look sharp. Were there nothing more 
to check us than the garrison here and the walls 
that inclose us, we would make them look sharp 
and get to the rear. 

The propriety of making a break is often dis- 
cussed, and various are the ingenious schemes 
laid out. We all feel sure we could make 
impromptu ladders enough to scale the walls, and 
thrash out the garrison with the brickbats that 
make the platforms for our stoves. But then 
comes the insurmountable difficulty about getting 
off the island, for the main land is three miles 
distant. Some are so fool-hardy as to be willing 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISO]^ LIFE. 121 

to risk the chances for that; but long-headed 
ones won't bite, for when their cahii judgment 
weighs the matter, the chances for defeat and dis- 
aster by far out-bahmce the other side. 

The " Sandusky lying Register,^'' as we call it, 
of the 22d, reported 1,500 of " Morgan's horse- 
thieves " as having been taken, which proved to 
be only too nearly true. The following day 
twenty-five prisoners taken at Perryville, Ken- 
tucky, the past year, and who had been held for 
months with paroles in their pockets, were sent 
off for exchange With them went a fellow 
whose '''■ nomme de guerre'''' is "Buck," and who 
was sent from here to Yicksburg last fall to be 
exchanged, but refused ; this time he was anxious 
to be ofK 

We wrote many letters to send through the 
lines to our friends, who, if so fortunate as to get 
them, will be quite happy to hear that we are in 
such a thriving condition. Some of the letters 
were examined and approved by the commanding 
officer; many were sealed and secreted in boot- 
linings, hat-crov. ns, coat-linings and other cute 
places. N^ecessity was the mother of many 
inventions at our house. 

At that time the weather was splendid, being- 
clear, cool and bracing, and it was a real luxury 
to get up early and snuif the pure breezes as they 
came wafting; from the Canadian shores over the 



122 CAMP, FIELD Al^D PRISON LIFE. 

crj^stal bosom of beautiful, delightful Lake Erie. 
The other day a jolly fellow said: "If a body 
couldn't live easy, laugh and grov/ fat here he 
ought to die, for we have nothing to do but to 
eat, drink, sleep and be merry." 

Our sutlers are driving quite a brisk trade just 
now. Twice each day they bring in a wagon load 
of vegetables, provisions and all kinds of stuff, 
and at night all is gone. The machine works in 
this wise : When money comes for a prisoner, it 
is retained at headquarters on the outside, and 
credited to him on the sutler's book. The sutler 
gives us checks to any amount desired, we at the 
same time giving him an order on the Post Com- 
mandant for an equivalent sum. The checks are 
taken at the sutler's store for the amount on their 
face, which ranges from five cents to one dollar. 
Such is our circulating medium in prison. 

Our sutlers are quite obliging, especially when 
a fellow has a smart chance of funds to his credit. 
As we have no other source of procuring what we 
want, they charge us to the limit of their con- 
science, and in some cases it seems wonderfully 
elastic. Their little establishment is altogether 
a popular place, being crowded from morn till 
night ; nor do the Southern boys care for expenses 
when they can raise the " all needful." 

The mail of July 24th brought me a bundle of 
New York Ledgers^ from my mother, and they 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOISr LIFE. 123 

fill up many vacant hours, to say nothing of the 
interesting and instructive matter in them. The 
next day Lieutenant Lotspeich received $20 00 
from a relative in Missouri, and it made us all 
feel glad — I mean myself and the three Lieuten- 
ants of m}^ company — for it is, in part, a family 
fund. We feel and act toward each other just as 
the members of an affectionate family Avould at 
home, which is the proper spirit to be exercised 
among soldiers, if they would live and toil 
together in harmony. 

The day after that, the " lying Sandusky Reg- 
ister " made us feel so had by saying : " Lee can't 
get to Richmond ; Meade is about to take him in." 
The Federal press must have something new and 
exciting to make their papers sell and to i^lease 
tlie people. One day they mourn and rave that 
General Lee has slipped through their clutches 
with so many rich spoils ; the next, they get wild, 
and imagine, whether or not, that he must not 
get back, and tell us how he is trapped. Our 
papers down in Dixie have caught the contagion, 
and tell some whoppers, too 

During the night of July 25th a man died in the 
prison hospital, and his funeral was preached next 
day in front of the building. Hundreds congre- 
gated around with solemn faces and sorrowing, 
sympathizing hearts. The effects produced upon 
a soldier by seeing his comrade fall on the battle- 



124 CAMP, FIELD Al^TD PRISON LIFE. 

field in his country's behalf are not near so touch- 
ing as under other circumstances ; it may be 
because one necessarily nerves himself up to the 
point of being partially callous to the unpleasant 
things around him. 

The field of strife is not the only place where 
the evils and horrors of war may be seen in 
aggravated forms. Go to the hospital, where 
those stricken by disease lie around by hundreds 
on their humble couches. You find them in every 
conceivable condition, from the emaciated but 
cheerful, prospering convalescent to the wild, 
haggard mortal whose coil of life is almost wound 
ofi". There is a picture worthy of grand admira- 
tion and profound sympathy — admiration for the 
heroic manner in which they bear up under afflic- 
tion, all for their country's sake, and deep sym- 
pathy, for they have no mother, sister nor other 
dear friend to soothe the aching brow, and by a 
thousand little deeds of kindness ameliorate their 
sufferings. Reflections upon such a scene must 
move any heart, unless it be like adamant. 

The morning of July 28tli brought a host of 
Morgan's boys to our island home. Among them 
I found Colonels D. Howard, Smith, Basil Duke 
and Dick Morgan, as well as Captain Dawson, and 
Lieutenants Fenwick and Leathers, of my count}', 
and many others that I knew. For some days 
previous we had regarded their capture as almost 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 125 

certain, for it is no exaggeration to say 20,000 
jN'ortliern troops were on their trail. Notwith- 
standing the prevailing impression in the North 
that Morgan had 7,000 men, it is a fact that at no 
time did his force north of the Ohio exceed 2,500 
cavalry. The Governor of Indiana, with his 
militia. General Burnside, with all his available 
troops, a greater portion of the cavalry from 
Kentucky, and a goodly number of transports 
and gunboats, all joined in the chase to surround 
and " gobble up " the notorious raiders. 

About the time of the arrival of Morgan's men 
the vile secessionists thrashed out the loyal troops 
(and took possession of Richmond, Kentucky, 
which has before been under rebel sway. The 
Federals retired in no very good order in the 
direction of Lexington, and that cily was put 
under martial law. Groundless fears were enter- 
tained that Mr. Bragg might be on his way to the 
glorious Blue Grass region of Kentucky again. 

The lightning fluid tells us that the War Depart- 
ment are preparing to build two more huge mili- 
tary prisons — one at Rock Island, Illinois, the 
other in Maryland. That is anything but omin- 
ous of a speedy exchange. Maybe the President 
is going to take the balance of our army by detail, 
then make us give bond, take the oath, go home 
and be better boys till next time. 

The Hon. John J. Crittenden, of Frankfort^ i& 



126 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

just dead. He lias been a great and good man, 
and has wielded a mighty influence at home and 
in national affairs. Though patriotic, and though 
it grieved him to see the dissolution of the gov- 
ernment that he had spent his life and energies 
in perpetuating, he did not approve of the j)olicy 
assumed by the Administration. 

And, sure enough, General John H. Morgan has 
been caught at last, and is now in the calaboose 
at Cincinnati. For nearly two years past he has 
been the most daring, most feared and most suc- 
cessful raider in our Western service. The sequel 
proves that this time he acted bravely, but not 
wisely. But the greatest and most tried military 
chieftains sometimes strike erring blows. Even 
Napoleon, whose army and whose military genius 
were regarded as almost invincible, fell while in 
the zenith of his glory. 

Considering the size of his com^mand, the 
achievements of General Morgan have eclipsed 
those of almost any other cavalry officer, North 
or South. He has been over more of the enemy's 
country in rear of their main armies, and has 
destroyed more public property and army trans- 
portation, railroad and otherwise, than any leader 
with the same force in the Confederate service. 
In the beginning of his career his achievements 
were looked upon as almost miraculous, and even 



CAMP, FIELD ATiD PRISON LIFE. 127 

the women and cliiiclren doated on and loved to 
talk of John Morgan. 

Last summer he was actually taken from the 
cars and detained over night at Marietta, Georgia, 
by a crowd of ladies, who, having learned that he 
was on the train, assembled to see and congratu- 
late the gallant chieftain Alas! all things mortal 
must perish and pass away ; but the deeds of men 
may be made imperishable, and, in the galaxy 
of brilliant, dashing heroes that entered the lists 
for Southern freedom, no name will be more con- 
spicuous, or shine with more lustre, than that of 
John H. Morgan. 

In the evening of July 28th, 160 officers from 
Port Hudson came in. They looked jaded, and 
showed evident signs of having seen hard service. 
The story of their endurance and suffering is 
enough to make the heart of the whole South beat 
with gratitude to and sympathy for them. For 
48 days did they lie in the intrenchments, the 
scorching rays of a troj)ical sun coming down on 
them by day and the chilly dews by night. For 
a whole month they subsisted on mule meat, and, 
in order to make their corn last, had to grind it, 
cob and all. They manfully resisted the multi- 
plied assaults of the enemy till they only had a 
single day's rations and ten rounds of ammunition 
left, and necessity, not the valor of the enemy, 
compelled them to give up. 



128 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

The 29tli day of July was a hriglit era in tlie 
liistory of my prison life. A nice box of provi- 
sions, anticipated for some days, made its welcome 
appearance that afternoon. It was a gift from 
my grandmother, who is ninety years old, and 
who, from my earliest childhood, has wanted no 
greater happiness than in ministering to my every 
want. The box contained one old ham, two cans 
each of butter, honey and blackberry jam, saus- 
age, aj)ples, maple sugar, cake, a pair of pants, 
shoes and daguerreotypes of my uncle and his 
daughter. 

The same day I got, per express, $50.00 from my 
mother, which made my joy complete, and I felt 
like a thriving farmer who, having reaped the 
fruits of his labor, has plentiful stores of every- 
thing around him and feels at ease. Every day 
of my life I realize more fully the adage that 
" home is the dearest and best place on earth." 
The farther I roam and the more dependent I 
become upon, and the better acquainted with, 
the world, the more I learn to love home and its 
inmates. 

On the 30th day of July Lieut. Chambers and 
Dick Taylor, of Anderson county, Kentucky, came 
in from Cami) Morton, where they saw my brother, 
all right. I had supposed he was sent on exchange 
a month ago. Taylor, who is a private, exchanged 
name and place with an officer, and is now known 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 129 

here by tlie autliorities as " Lieut. Hoggins." He 
tells me that, on the day of his capture, he was 
on his third horse since morning. 

Our prison pen is now chock full of live rebels, 
and there is a constant hum, and busy scenes of 
many kinds, constantly going on. Some are block- 
ing out rings, some filing shell, and some ham- 
mering out gold or silver for sets. Again, some 
are making fancy canes, some stools and shelves, 
while others are playing cards, checkers or chess. 
In another quarter not far away you may find one 
fellow making pies to sell, while another deals in 
lemonade, a third sells ice cream, and a fourth 
has cakes and beer to exchange for sutler's checks. 
Two tailors are kept all the time employed, and, 
to wind up with, we have a boot and shoe shop. 

Then at the pump is another constant busy 
scene — for there, at almost any hour of the day, 
can be found from twenty to fifty men, with sleeves 
rolled up, going into a tub of clothes with as much 
grace as though they had been brought up at the 
calling. 

Some 1,400 of us having to get water from the 
same pump, from daylight till dark there is a 
crowd at, and a stream to and from, that necessary 
institution. 

And from eight A. M. to five p. M. four clerks are 

kept busy in the sutler's store. The first thing 

there is a rush for the morning papers, of which 
9 



130 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

we soon eagerly devour tlie contents. In the next 
place, butter, onions, beans, cabbage and potatoes 
must be secured in time for dinner, j)rovided a 
fellow lias tlie checks. Then the day is consumed 
in selling wearing apparel and notions of all sorts. 
One team is almost constantly on the go, hauling 
in rations and wood. And the postofRce is a busy 
institution ; at every hour in the day some one is 
inquiring for a letter. Some make a daily pil- 
grimage to the postofRce who don't get a letter 
to the month. 

Our postal arrangement is in this shape : AVe 
write our letters and drop them, unsealed, into a 
box with our rebel postmaster. The Federal post- 
master opens and examines all letters received for 
us, and about ten o'clock each day brings them 
into our office, and takes out the mail deposited 
there, to be inspected and forwarded, if not con- 
traband. I have both written and received several 
contraband letters ; in the one case it would come 
back marked " contraband ;" in the other, the 
letter would be destroj^ed and the envelope sent 
in indorsed, " letter contraband." 

After such a showing forth, the world must 
acknowledge that our " Confederate city" is more 
thriving than many a Federal city of greater age 
and pretensions. Confederate scrip is now worth 
only live cents on the dollar. As we came by 
Memphis we got double and quadruple that much. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 131 

Tlie sporting gentry here buy up Confederate from 
needy fellows, and bet quite freely. Thousands 
often change hands at a single sitting. 

On the last day of July I went swimming in 
the lake. The most important news of that day 
was that Morgan and the officers with him had 
been sent to the penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio, 
to he treated according to tJie rules of that insti- 
tuiion^ as a matter of retaliation. 

A retrospective glance at the month that has 
just faded away and been blotted out from the 
book of time — but not from the memory of man 
or the record of history— will show some of the 
grandest achievements and the most persevering 
and valorous deeds of men that the history of 
modern warfare presents to view. Vicksburg, the 
great Confederate fortress and stronghold, u^oon 
which the interest and welfare, almost, of the two 
parties hung, and which astonished and won the 
admiration of the whole civilized world, has fallen. 

Port Hudson, a Gibraltar of lesser magnitude, 
but wearing none the less bright laurels, has had 
to succumb — not to the superior valor, but long 
protracted siege of the Federal arms. The army 
of Virginia and the army of the Potomac, each 
standing in front of the capital of its nation, have 
met in the clash of arms again and again, thous- 
ands falling on either side, and millions of prop- 
erty being destroyed. A division of rebel cavalry 



132 CAMP, FIELD AiSTB PRISON LIFE. 

have traveled hundreds of miles to the rear of the 
Federal army, crossed the Ohio, and roamed the 
States of Indiana and Ohio, but they, too, have 
gone the way of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, 
The loyal forces have, with terrific earnestness, 
been bombarding the defenses at Charleston, but 
with no material result, and several not unimpor- 
tant battles have occurred among the cavalry 
commands in various quarters. 

Perhaps never since the prime days of this re- 
public have so many and so thrilling and important 
events transpired in the same length of time. As 
to what will work out from it all is too deep and 
mysterious a problem for the ingenuity or pene- 
tration of the human mind. We must admit that 
the Federal arms have been more successful than 
ours, and that a seeming gloom is cast over the 
Confederate cause. But ofttimes the darkest hour 
is just before day; and, as the darkest days of 
our forefathers, in their struggle for the same 
cause that we are now vindicating was near the 
close of that struggle for freedom, maybe all is 
for the best, and that a brighter day is not far 
hidden in the future, God grant it ! 



CAMP, FIELD ANB PEISOX LIFE. 133 



CHAPTER VI. 



At Home, Johnson's Island, Ohio^ \ 
August 5, 1S63. > 

To-day two months have gone to that eternal 
bonrne from whence nothing earthly returns, and 
still w^e are imposing on the hospitality of this 
institution, with every plausible indication that 
we will continue to sojourn here for an indelinite 
period. Though, about a year ago, commissioners 
from each government met and agreed upon a 
cartel of exchange that should be permanent, 
there is now as wide a split in the matter as be- 
tween the governments themselves. 

Negro equality, guerrillas, misunderstandings 
and faithlessness on the part of both belligerents 
have been the prime causes in the case, and to-day, 
because of that infidelity, not less than 75,000 
soldiers are languishing and perishing in Northern 
and Southern prisons. Such are the horrors and 
injustice of war, because the men of great rank, 
but small caliber, who rule and determine the 
destinies of the jieople, are inadequate to the trust 



134 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

iDestowecl upon them. I can not see any proba- 
bility that we will break np camp and emigrate 
South till both parties back down from the laws 
and affirmations made by each, and agree upon 
more equitable terms. The " American citizen of 
African descent " is the great bone of contention 
at present. 

Here comes an instance of the barbarities in- 
flicted because of the injudicious acts of "big(?) 
men :" We arose from our humble couches of 
straw on the morning of August 1st to find a chain 
of sentinels stretched along the whole front of our 
barracks, and a squad of soldiery at Block 12, 
besides the regular guard. I surmised the state 
of affairs in a moment, for Morgan's officers were 
in Block 12. It was soon found out that fifty of 
tliem, the highest in rank, were to be taken to the 
penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio, to be held as 
hostages for General Straight's men, captured at 
Rome, Georgia, while on a Southern raid. 

Before sun up all the field officers and captains 
filed out at the small gate, and went submissively, 
but not without burning thoughts of the future, 
to serve out the will of the Federal dynasty. As 
to the right, propriety and necessity of retaliation, 
in some instances, there can be no doubt, but it 
seems unjust and cruel that innocent men should 
suffer in return for the evil doings of the wicked, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOK LIFE. 135 

especially when so many cases could be averted 
by the wise administration of superiors. 

" The siege of Charleston is progressing finely," 
so says the Federal press, but still it seems that 
G-eneral Gilmore's forces had to retrogress the 
other day, being driven back on Morris Island 
with heavy loss. The Feds, have for a long time, 
with what they term " the best naval fleet in the 
world," and a host of land forces, been pegging 
away at that great Southern port, the cradle in 
which the rebellion was flrst rocked, and where 
its fire will be the last to die out, even if the city 
should fall or sink into ashes. 

The telegraph says Mobile will soon become 
the theater of active military operations, for both 
armies of the West are tending to a focus at that 
point. It is not at all unreasonable to conclude 
that the next effort of the Northern army will be 
against that position, for, considering their geo- 
graphical situation, and their great faith in being 
close to water and iron-clads, we would naturally 
suppose their inclinations would lead them thither. 
The wonder is that the place has not been attacked 
before this, for it is a point of importance to us, 
and its defenses are far inferior to those of Charles- 
ton. 

Mobile has some manufacturing facilities for 
our army supplies, its harbor gives protection to 
blockade-runners, and it is on the main railroad 



136 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISO:?^ LIFE. 

cliannel from IMississippi east. But that would 
not be so deadly a blow, for there is a railroad 
just finished from Meridian, Mississippi, to Selma, 
Alabama, from whence there is communication 
by steamboat to Montgomery, striking again the 
main trunk of our railway. Even if we should 
have to. give up Mobile, the loss here would be a 
gain there, for a garrison and many other troops 
would be thereby relieved to strengthen our 
armies in the field, and it would require a large 
fleet and heavy land force to hold it. 

The value or the importance of true friends is 
seldom known or appreciated till one gets in a 
dependent situation, where, if he gets the luxuries 
or even comforts of life, they must be dealt out 
to him by other hands, and where the sympathies 
and kindly assurances of other hearts are neces- 
sary to strengthen and encourage his hopes and 
anticipations of a better time coming. What 
a balming solace it is for one to feel that he is r.ot 
an outcast upon the world — that there are hearts 
beating in unison with his own — that there are 
those who would share his toils and sufferings, 
lighten his burdens, and scatter beauteous, fra- 
grant roses in his every pathway. 

I feel that I am thus blessed, for now, when in 
adversity, the same as when in prosperity, my 
friends are true to me. August the 2d I received 
a letter and picture from a cousin in Kentucky, to 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISO!?^ LIFE. 137 

freshen tlie reminiscences of the ]Dast, give food 
for contemplation now, and, in future days, when 
I am in another region — maybe on the conch of 
affliction — to remind me that there are those in 
the native land who invoke the blessings of 
heave :i and earth on me. 

This afternoon about one hundred of General 
Lee's officers arrived. They are mostly cavalry 
officers, and gallant sons of the " Old Domin- 
ion State." They till the void left by the 
evacuation of Morgan's men. This evening at 
four o'clock a minister, formerly of Stonewall 
Jackson's brigade, preached in front of our 
block. His sermon was full of good, sound 
logical reasoning, but he was altogether the most 
eccentric speaker I ever saw. His gestures of 
body were so passionately expressive as to give 
one a feeling of uneasines. Still he enchained a 
respectable audience for a full hour, and his pecu- 
liarities, with his good sense, will never fail to 
draw hearers. 

August 3d. — This morning I purchased a sack 
of flour and a new bucket, and ice-water now 
inhabits our shanty. My old countymen, Cham- 
bers and Taylor, took supper with us this even- 
ing, and said we had several extra touches to 
cavalry fare. 

General Herron's division of Grant's army is 
now on its way 'round the coast, "bound for 



138 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

Mobile," but it's not known for certain when it 
will get there. There is no telling where Mr. 
Banks will go, since it took him so prodigiously 
long to go from Baton Ronge to Port Hudson, a 
distance of fifteen miles. But one thing is sure — 
most of his army are going home, their term of 
enlistment having expired. A dozen regiments 
have arrived at Cairo in the past few days, "bound 
home — mostly Maine and New York troops 

It appears that Father Abraham and his help- 
mates are having a hard time with the conscripts 
down East just now. The visible mobs in New 
York and other large cities have been suppressed, 
but, like Southern cities within the Federal lines, 
though mute and submissive, the fire is not out, 
but only lies slumbering till the weight of oppres- 
sion is taken off. Certainly there would not have 
been such powerful and stubborn resistance to the 
draft had not those engaged in the rebellion 
against it believed it unjust. Force of arms can 
quell their resistance, but can it change their 
opinions? It will prove like the attempt to 
change the channel of the great river at Yicks- 
burg. 

A reaction has for some time been going on in 
the Federal nation, and the elements of resist- 
ance to the Administration — not the old Union 
in its purity — which are measurably in subjec- 
tion, have, now and then, burst forth, only to be 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 139 

smothered again by brute force— not moral con- 
viction. 

A study of precedents in civil revolutions, and 
a survey of tlie results, portend tliat this nation- 
ality is forever gone ; yea ! that the two nations 
into which there is being made an attempt to 
divide it will not stand, but that other petty 
kingdoms will rise up, causing a diversity of 
opinion and interest, and a confusion, the end of 
which no man can see. If such should be our 
fate, God protect us from the avaricious intrigues 
and greediness of the nations that are now look- 
ing down upon us with eagle eye andwollish 
rapacity. I will not suffer myself to believe that 
sucli is to be our destiny, but the teachings of 
history point to such a conclusion as not at all 
im^Dossible. 

To show the disparity in spirit and earnestness 
between the two sections, let us quote a semi- 
official record from a Northern paper : " We have 
nearly three hundred blockaders and war vessels 
of every description on the high seas. The Con- 
federate naval fleet consists of but three vessels ; 
yet they roam the seas with impunity, destroy 
trading vessels by the wholesale, and have cap- 
tured and burned millions of treasure ; still our 
armament allows them to go at large. Where is 
the fault ? " 

'Tis in this : The Southern navy feel that they 



140 CAMP, FIELD AiS'D PRISON LIFE. 

are engaged in a great and good canse, upon the 
issue of which they have staked their all — their 
very existence — and they pursue their calling 
with a zealous vim, thinking rather of the good 
to their country than the harm to themselves. 
Not so with the Federal navy. They are serving 
for pay — not principle ; I mean the generality — 
not all. It is more pleasant, and not half so dan- 
gerous, to be drifted about on the bosom of the 
deep, with good wages accumulating, than it is to 
risk the uncertainties of a naval conflict. Under 
no other view of the case would it be possible for 
a few to be so successful against so many, capac- 
ities being equal. 

August 4tli. — Election day in Kentucky. So 
brave and chivalrous a people as Kentuckians 
have ever had the name of being should feel 
ashamed to leave on record for their posterity the 
history of the manner in which the Common- 
wealth is now governed. A free and law-abiding 
people as they have been, it is difficult to conceive 
how they can submit to the dictatorship practiced 
over them by the powers that be. A military 
stewardship has superseded civil laws and rights, 
and the freedom of speech is a mooted question.' 

Telegrams inform us that the Union cause has 
carried in Kentucky by 20,000 majority. Appro- 
priately we might ask, why not twice that? since 
there was allowed to be no other cause, for he that 



CAMP, FIELD AA^D PEISOJI' LIFE. 141 

dared go to the polls and cast liis vote in opposi- 
tion to the Administration did so at the peril of 
his liberty, as soldiers and bayonets were all 
abont to warn the people that the Administration 
must be supported — right or wrong. Though the 
Federal Constitution says the right to speak and 
to publish one's thoughts is a sacred one, not to be 
interfered with, yet thousands have been and are 
languishing in prison because of using that right. 

When will this reign of anarchy, misrule and 
deception cease to exist? It appears not till the 
whole American government is revolutionized, 
Tiiose who have been deemed wise and reasoning 
men rush, on madly and blindly into the inael- 
strom that must lead to inevitable ruin. The 
masses engaged in this mighty and brilliant con- 
flict are actuated by good motives, but very many 
of the leaders — those in whom the people put 
their trust — act with sinister designs, and care 
not how many they drag down, if they can 
thereby elevate themselves. But there is an All- 
seeing Eye that will finally rule the destinies of 
nations, punish the guilty, and reward the just 
with life everlasting. 

At noon to-da}^ the remainder of Morgan's 
Tiorse-thie'oes were shipped for unknown quarters, 
the boys in blue intimating that they were going 
on exchange, but the prevailing opinion was that 
it will be an exchange from prison to penitentiary. 



142 CAMP, FIELD A^^D PPJSOJT LIFE. 

The fellows left in gay spirits, langliing at tlie 
idea of liaving their heads shaved and becoming 
convicts, and promising to remember their ungen- 
erons benefactors at a futnre day. 

One poor fellow was sick in the hospital, and 
the officer who called out their names ordered 
him "to be brought dead or alive." My heart 
burned within me and my tongue craved to tell 
him what I thought of him. A number of pri- 
vates of Morgan's command who have been 
captured at various times and sent here, fixed up 
to go out with them, expressing a willingness to 
follow the command anywhere ; but they have to 
tarry yet a little longer. 

This evening we had a fine and refreshing 
shower, making the heated air far more pleasant. 
The changes of weather here are sudden and sin- 
gidar ; in the morning the sun may rise upon a 
cloudless sky, and before noon the rain will be 
pouring, and, though to-day is almost insufferably 
hot, to-morrow may be bleak and chilly. 

To-day, 5tli instant, the Island Queen, which 
makes regular excursion trips, passd close round 
the island with a cargo of heaven's last and best 
creation, and they seemed to be astonished that 
the rebels looked so well and perfectly contented. 
I dare say they imagine not of the restless, latent 
fire that is burning in the bosoms of these true 
but unfortunate sons of the South. Perchance at 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 143 

a future day tlieir brothers and sweethearts will 
have occasion to tell them that the fellows who 
seemed so tame and harmless on Johnson's Island 
made them smell frost in the shape of gunpowder 
and lead pills. 

An exciting yacht race came off in Sandusky 
bay this forenoon, and many tall sparred and 
heavy reefed vessels are now cruising about 'twixt 
us and the city, some of them having no visible 
means of livelihood. 

This morning's Register had at the head of its 
telegraphic column, in brazen capitals, " Yancey 
is dead," and the whole abolition crew no doubt 
felt as that paper, and rejoiced at his exit, for he 
was one of the first and staunchest champions of 
Southern rights and Southern independence. In 
his fall we have lost a bright star in the constel- 
lation that forms our first Congress. His wisdom 
and foresight have had great instrumentality in 
organizing and building up our new government, 
and the void made by his death will be deeply felt 
by the whole South. 

The same telegram said General John B. Floyd 
was lying dangerously ill at his home in Abing- 
don, Virginia. The noted ones of earth, like all 
things else, are passing away. 

While our friends at home are worrying them- 
selves and sorrowing about our misfortunes and 
want of comforts, we are perfectly easy and con- 



144 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOIS' LIFE. 

tented, and perliai^s more safe and comfortable 
than the majority of them, for we have no cares, 
and being all birds of a feather, speak what we 
please. We have plenty to eat bronght to onr 
very door at no cost, nor do we trouble ourselves 
as to the morrow. How many at home can say 
they are even half so well oflf ? 

He that will can find consolation in almost any 
situation, but the soldier is better prepared than 
the civilian to be contented anywhere and any 
way, for he has, in a great measure, given up his 
liberties to enhance the interests of his cause, 
hoj^ing for remuneration in time to come. He 
learns to regard whatever comes, whether good or 
bad, as necessary for the advancement of his cause, 
and with humble patriotism meekly submits. 

Perchance this very day the folks at home had 
a good dinner, with some of my old friends around 
the board, all concurring in the wish that I were 
there to enjoy the meal with them, no doubt pic- 
turing in their minds a disagreeable, loathsome 
situation for me. But I am sure they did not 
relish their meal more than I did the splendid 
repast just finished, which seemed all the better 
because of our own manufacture. 

To-day we had for dinner, besides our regular 
bill of fare, green apple pies, honey, pickles and 
ice water, and old Kentucky ham, butter and bis- 
cuit graced our board at tea time last evening. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISO^ST LIFE. 145 

Then we often have baked beef and potatoes, and 
every few mornings some splendid hash, seasoned 
with red pepper and onions. Where's the lord, 
with his gorgeous mansion, rich china and silver 
plate, and servants in livery, that, according to 
station, outlives us ? Indeed, does he live as well ? 
We enjoy ours — not he. 

This day two months ago we entered these high, 
white walls, and we've hoped and we've dreamed 
of freedom again, but the day of delivery seems 
rather to recede than approach us. When at 
home in civil life the idea of going into a prison 
to stay shut up from the world for months was 
terrible to me, but, of a truth, one can get used 
to almost anything. 

It was two years ago on the 2d since I left my 
home in Kentucky to try the unknown realities 
of military life in the South. Then I left a smiling 
and prosperous land, teeming with grain and 
fruits, the light-hearted farmers rose with the lark, 
and all the households were happy. The demon 
monster, civil war, had not yet reached her bor- 
ders, and there were many — yes, very many — who 
were carried away, and took unction to their souls 
by the deceptive and absurd policy of " armed 
neutrality." 

The history of past rebellions of a similar nature 

convinced me that our lovely State must, sooner 

or later, feel the venomous sting of war, and, as 
10 



146 CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISOX LIFE. 

my feelings and sympatliies were not in a passive 
state, I conceived it my duty to give my mite of 
strength in the canse I believed most nearly right- 
So, consulting none others than my conscience 
and sense of duty, I bade good-bye to home, 
friends and all, and wended my way to a Southern 
camp, and have, in the short space of two years, 
seen and experienced more than a life-time of 
civil existence. 

Then there were free intercourse and traffic 
among the people, and railroads, stage lines and 
the public highways were safe for travelers. How 
now ? Then the once " dark and blood}^ ground " 
had not felt the hostile tread of devastating armies, 
nor had there been a clash of arms on her soil. 
But now all those dread realities have been 
enacted. The rich and blooming fields of my 
native State have been changed into desperate 
battle grounds, her noble sons have met in deadly 
array, and stained mother earth with their life's 
blood in attestation of love for country and prin- 
ciple. Fathers have been left to mourn, mothers 
to weep, and sisters to pray for the success of the 
cause in which their brothers are engaged. But 
I'll turn away from so unpleasant a picture and 
silently contemplate the bright side of the pano- 
rama that we hope will pass before us b3'e and 
bye. 

August 8tli. — This day has been appointed by 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRI50:N' LIFE. 147 

President Lincoln as a day of fasting and tlianks- 
giving for recent victories. I feel sure the occasion 
is not now reverenced with that unanimity of sen- 
timent which Avas felt upon annual thanksgiring 
days a few years ago. Then we could thank God 
that we had been so prosperous and so wisely 
governed. Now, though we adore and reverence 
His goodness and kindness none the less, our 
thanks are turned into supplications to avert from 
us the evils of wicked men, who, for self aggran- 
dizement, would sink a nation. 

Yesterday was pay day for our cooks. I have 
mentioned somewhere else that, in the beginning, 
we hired a couple of Lieutenants of our mess to 
cook for the whole, paying them per month $15.00 
in greenbacks, or four times that much in Con- 
federate. They having faithfully served us for 
two months, begged to be relieved from further 
duty in that line. jSTo one seemed anxious for the 
office, so Captain Jim. Law, of Georgia, took the 
responsibility on himself and hired two cooks, 
and matters roll on smooth as ever again. 

Captain Law is an important personage in our 
midst — the soul of honor, good nature and drol- 
lery ; he seldom buttons his shirt collar, it being 
either flung to the breeze or confined with a shoe- 
string, and whenever about the cook room, hand- 
ling the dish rag, he is sure to j)ut it in his pocket, 
instead of where it belongs, and it is an uncommon 



148 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

tiling to find liim wearing more than one suspender 
at a time. 

The otlier day the sutler brought in new j^eaches 
and fresh corn, the first of the season, and delici- 
ous to the taste, but gouging on the pocket book. 
And, too, the pump man from Sandusky repaired 
our old pump and put in a new one close by, 
watered by a leaden pipe extending out into the 
lake, so now we can get lots of good water without 
waiting long, and our water is cooler, purer and 
better than might be imagined. 

Some days ago, being desirous of sending my 
likeness to my mother and some other friends, I 
made written application to the commandant of 
the post for permission to go over to Sandusky 
City to have some taken. Next morning the ap- 
plication came back endorsed " disapproved," nor 
was I in the least disconcerted, for I expected even 
the same, but I thought there was no harm in 
asking as long as there was a possibility of suc- 
cess. 

For several days past Lieutenant Smith, of my 
brigade, has been busy making a watch fob out 
of a piece of gutta percha rule ; it is ornamented 
with silver and pearl sets of a variety of shapes, 
and is a beauty. He has sold it for $10.00, a big 
pile in this institution. On the 17tli of IMay last 
this same Smith, with twenty-three men, kept 
Sherman's army corps from crossing at Bridge- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 149 

port, six miles above Big Black bridge, Mississippi, 
from eight o'clock a. m. till two o'clock p. m. He 
had so fortified the place, and so manoeuvered his 
men, as to make the impression that he had a 
large force. It may well be imagined that the 
General was chagrined to find his prize a cor- 
poral's squad instead of a brigade. From that 
time forward the Lieutenant has borne the title 
" Kirby Smith." 

The eyes of the Northern Confederacy open 
wider, and they begin to think and reason for 
themselves more earnestly as their blood and 
treasure fiow more freely. A N'orthern paper 
says : " The North has twenty-one millions people 
and all the means to equip and subsist a most 
powerful army. The South has eight millions of 
people, and no means, except as they invent or 
produce them, to carry on a hostile war. 

" Aside from their resources at home, the North 
can communicate with all the civil powers of the 
earth, and procure the greatest and best warlike 
inventions and auxiliaries. The whole Southern 
coast is blockaded, with no means — except as a 
vessel now and then runs the blockade — of getting 
foreign help of any kind. Now, if, with all this 
disparity of facilities, they fail to subdue and 
bring back the rebellious States, who is to blame ?" 

A great statesman once said : " The battle is 



150 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

not always to the strong, but to the active, the 
vioihint, the "brave and the just." 

About twenty officers of Scott's cavalry, lately 
captured in Kentucky, came into prison yesterday, 
and among them was Lieut. Bearden, formerly 
l)ost adjutant at Knoxville, Tennessee, and with 
whom I have had many a festive time thereabout. 
Capt. Gammon and Lieut. Fain, of my command,* 
have each just got a full suit of Confederate gray 
from a cousin in Louisville, Kentucky. Said she : 
" 'Tis my greatest and almost only pleasure to aid 
a Southern soldier." The boys will ever remem- 
ber and love her for her kindness. 

If I could truly delineate the manners and cus- 
toms, or portra}^ the occurrences of a single day 
in our prison, it would, without doubt, be full of 
interest to an outsider. The great variety of 
talent, wit, peculiarities and eccentricities discern- 
ible in different localities and countries is here 
more fully portrayed than in the outer world, for 
the reason that the panorama of life is longer and 
more constantly before our view, the characteris- 
tics being developed on a smaller space of ground, 
but there being all the resources necessary to call 
them forth. Here, as everywhere else, there are 
some characters of more than ordinary promi- 
nence, who attract the attention and remarks of 
all in their vicinity, some by one peculiarity, some 
by another. 



CAMP, FIELD AIS^D PRISON LIFE. 151 

The personage that tickles me most is one Capt. 
Youngblood, of the artillery service ; he is highly 
intellectual, fluent and witty ; once edited a little 
newspaper in Alabama. He can tell yarns on 
himself and the world at large in a more ludicrous 
and laughable manner than any clown I ever 
heard, and he can draw a crowd as infallibly as 
water runs down hill. 

Our mess is not without its man of celebrity. 
Captain Thomas Burgess Brantly, my next door 
neighbor and frequent visitor, is the distinguished 
character alluded to. He was born and reared on 
Tar river, North Carolina, and now hails from the 
home of the Arkansaw traveler. If life, activity 
and a flexible tongue are precious endowments, 
Brantly is rich. He is generally first up and last 
to bed, and ad interim is diffusing merriment and 
laughter all about ; he is not dangerously affected 
with piety, and is always ready to tell a good 
joke or hard yarn on himself. Said individual 
dances, sings, visits, talks, laughs and has a happy 
time generally, nor is his fame circumscribed by 
the narrow limits of our mess. 

In Block 3 a Georgia Lieutenant did carry the 
day, but can't raise a crowd any longer. In 
Block No. 1 Charley Stout, once of Dan Rice's 
circus, carries the palm of victory in the humor- 
ous line. For the present I'll pass over the lesser 
lights. 



152 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

If a civilian sliould some evening come to our 
island and peep over the walls after the declining 
sun has shaded the square between our two rows 
of buildings, he would not imagine us to be pris- 
oners, for he could scarcely conceive how those in 
bondage could be so full of fun and contentment. 
The scene is not altogether dissimilar to that of a 
lot of schoolboys at recess playing all sorts of 
games. 

"VYe get up when we please ; some rise with the 
sun, and some are driven from their bunks by the 
announcement of breakfast. No one is allowed 
to leave his quarters till the garrison flag is 
hoisted — a little after sun up. 

When we have anything extra from the regular 
soldier fare we cook it ourselves ; at least a half 
dozen extra cooks are around the stove at every 
meal, baking biscuit, making hash and other 
things. Notwithstanding the jam and crowd, 
everything goes on smoothly and agreeably ; as 
in milling business, lirst come, tirst served. 

About half after seven we have roll-call ; the 
drum beats for all hands to turn out, a Yankee 
corporal for each of the thirteen blocks comes in, 
gets us into line, calls our names, and then counts 
us, to make certain that no one has dug out. All 
titles are dispensed with ; the loyal corporals 
don't recognize any of the Rebels as Captains, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 153 

Colonels or Generals, nor are we in the least 
troubled over it. 

At eight o'clock the garrison have gnar'd- 
mounting, attended by drum, fife^ and brass band. 
About the same time the sutler comes in with the 
morning, papers, butter, eggs, onions, cabbage and 
a variety of notions. "We dine. about noon; but 
before that — an important item — our mail comes 
in at ten o'clock. Just after dinner Mr. Sutler 
brings in yesterday's New York papers, which 
we buy in great numbers and read with avidity. 
All the afternoon a beautiful span of spirited 
bays are busy hauling in wood for the various 
messes to cook with. 

I forgot to mention that early in the morning 
the ice-wagon comes in, and a little later the milk-- 
vender, each giving us a very good article at a 
fair price, and their supply is seldom equal to the 
demand. And I didn't say that our rations are 
brought in and issued to the various messes 
about nine o'clock each day. "We generally sup 
a while before sundown, then collect in groups on 
the various wood-piles, stair-steps or shady plot 
of grass, and tell of adventures in the wars, 
travels, incidents, manners of society and char- 
acters of the people where we have been, and get 
off good jokes on each other. 

The fellows from the different States — all the 
States South are represented here — try to get a 



154 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

run on the boys from some other State by telling 
jokes and yarns on them, and it is a remarkable 
fact that, thongh it is the profession of soldiers to 
fight, they seldom fight each other. 

After the drum beats for retreat and the flag 
goes down, which is about sunset, no prisoner is 
allowed to leave his quarters. At nine o'clock 
the garrison band regales us with several spirited 
tunes, and at the tap of the drum, at half-past 
nine, all lights in the prison must be extin- 
guished. After that, all within our walls is dark 
and silent, save the rays of a dozen lamps 
reflected over the prison yard and the lonely 
tread of the sentinels on the parapet. 

This, the 8tli day of August, the officers of 
Price's army taken at Helena, Arkansas, on the 
4th day of July, arrived from Alton prison, sev- 
eral of them, Col. Johnson, of Arkansas, among 
the number, wearing, as ornamental appendages, 
a ball and chain, for the off'ense of trying to 
escape from prison. They had made a hole 
through the ceiling and roof of their quarters, 
but some traitor or spy informed against them, 
and a detachment of Yankee boys was j^araded 
to greet them as soon as they made their exit 
through the hole. Several cases of small pox 
came in with them, and were quartered in a tent 
in one corner of the prison yard. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 155 

Tliey did not give the Alton House a very good 
name, and promise never to patronize the institu- 
tion again if the}^ can consistently avoid it, for 
they don't admire the situation of the concern, 
nor the compactness and hight of the yard fence, 
and last, but not least, the landlord and his sub- 
officials did not distinguish themselves for hospi- 
tality and generosity. 

This appears to be a general sunning day, the 
whole prison yard being sx)read with bed-ticks 
and blankets, and a health-officer is going the 
rounds inspecting rooms, cooking departments, 
slops, and everything that might get out of order. 
Lime is occasionally distributed to destroy the 
stench of decaying matter and purify the air, 
and, all tilings considered, the whole premises are 
kept remarkably clean and healthy. Captain 
Scoville, who luis charge of the internal affairs of 
the prison, visits all parts of the institution fre- 
quently, and is very kind in listening to the vari- 
ous questions and supplying the wants of the 
prisoners. 

When a lot of prison birds come in, each is 
given an empty straw tick, and they go out in 
squads to a barge of straw at the landing, and in 
a little while come back with their ticks stuffed 
full, and in the same squad may be noticed the 
General, the Captain, and the private. 



156 CAMP, FIELD AND PPvISON LIFE. 

Several evenings in each week the big gate 
facing the lake is opened and Confederate detach- 
ments of perhaps a hundred allowed to go and 
bathe in the lake, and, as most all are glad of the 
opjDortnnity to get ont of the walls and into the 
water, we have to take it by turns. 'Tis a i)leas- 
ing sight to see them, like so many ducks, 
splashing about in the water, and riding the 
waves, if the lake is rough. Several fellows with 
blue jackets and silvery bayonets sit on the 
shore during the performance to see it well, but 
not too well, done, for well they know that there 
are ducks here who would risk swimming tliree 
miles to Sandusky if they knew of any birds of 
a feather there to receive, clothe and help them 
on to Canada. 

Last night there was a laughable, ridiculous 
occurrence in camp. Along about midnight the 
sentinel on post number live cried out, " Halt ! 
Who goes there?" There being no answer, he 
challenged a second and a third time ; click, 
click, then bang went his fusee, his heart per- 
haj)S Jiearer his mouth than the bullet went to 
the object aimed at. Still it stood like a ghost. 
So his neighbor on post number six cracked 
away with the same result. And now, with 
feelings perchance alike the bold soldier boy for 
the first time in battle, he lustily yelled out for 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 157 

the corporal of the guard, who came promptly, 
espied the object, but could not make it out till 
he took a lamp, came inside the. square, and 
marched up to the bold figure, which was our 
new pump, 23ut in the other day — "that and 
nothing more." Harper's sketch man ought to 
get hold of the story. The boys christen the 
affair " the skirmish with the pump." 



158 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 



CHAPTER YIL 



Southern Hotel, off SANnrsKY, Ohio,! 
August 12, 1863. i 

Yesterday evening, as the slanting rays of a 
glorious sun were gilding tlie loftiest brandies of 
.the oaks in rear of our barracks, a j)^^ffiiiS 
steamer hove in sight, and, passing through the 
opening in the blockade near the lighthouse, 
directed its course directly toward the island, and 
came within a few hundred yards of the shore, 
which is less than thirty yards from our prison 
wall. It was a gay excursion party, and all of 
them saluted the Southern boys, who were out 
watching them, but whether in esteem or derision 
must be for a longer head to say. 

Last Sabbath there were divine services in 
front of Blocks N"os. 4 and 13, a large concourse 
listening to each sermon. Colonel Lewis, of Mis- 
souri, a Southern Methodist, who has just arrived, 
is said to be possessed of more than ordinary 
merits as a preacher, and, will most probably 
deliver us a religious discourse next Sabbath. 



s©]sr 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRIsfelSr LIFE. 159 

The other day I had a letter from my brother at 
Camp ]\Iorton, Indiana, stating that he and four 
others of my company were left there sick when 
the balance were sent to Fort Delaware. Two of 
them are yet ill, and Page Gregg, poor boy, has 
gone to his eternal home. He was just past 
eighteei!, and was kind-hearted and submissive 
to his every duty. Away down in Tennessee is a 
good father and a devoted mother, who put their 
precious boy under my charge, but cruel war has 
snatched him both from my guardian care and 
their loving embrace. 

A letter from Lieutenant Hoggins, alias Dick 
Taylor, informs me that the last squad of Mor- 
gan's men sent from here are now in the peniten- 
tiary at Alleghany, Pennsylvania, and that, so 
far, they have been closely confined, two in a cell, 
but that they are anything but downcast because 
of their situation. 

To-day there is no news of stirring interest, and 
the probability is that active military oj)erations 
will be partially suspended for a time, as all the 
main armies have very lately been actively 
engaged, and it requires time to recruit, repair 
damages and make additional preparations for 
another campaign. 

Now I will give a few more sketches of profes- 
sional life in prison. Nearly every vocation in 
the glossary of human labor has. its representa- 



160 CAMP, FIELD ATiD PRISON LIFE. 

tive here. The la"vy3'ers have no clients at all, for 
we have nothing to squabble over, and are inclined 
to be peaceable and law-abiding anyhow. The 
doctors kindly dispense their charity to those 
sick in hospital, where there are now about thirty 
patients, half a dozen having died since we came 
here. In our midst we have some natural artists 
and draughtsmen. One firm has out its shingle, 
" Drawing or Painting of any Description," and 
have executed several admirable and acc'urate 
colored drawings of the island and prison. Cap- 
tain Barron, of my regiment, has somewhat of a 
talent for making pictures, and passes a greater 
portion of his time in sketching and painting. 

The other morning at the express ofhce I saw a 
fellow who was trying to draw, but could not. 
The matter had resolved itself into this shape : 
A box came by express for Lieut. Minor, which, 
upon being inspected, j^rior to delivery, was found 
to contain a package of tobacco, a box of cigars, 
and 24 bottles of something for the inner man. 
Officer said he must deliver it to the surgeon as 
contraband. Minor said, " Can't you let us have 
just one bottle?" Officer said, " Can't do it," and 
Minor's chum then chimed in, " Well, then, can't 
you manage to bring a bottle up to our room after 
a bit?" That evening there were some mighty 
jolly fellows up in Block 2, and, as no effect comes 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 161 

witlioiit a cause, one can imagine tlie sequel of 
the matter. 

An order lias been received from tlie "War De- 
partment forbidding the sutler to sell us any boots, 
and prescribing what shall be sold, which ain't 
much. But when a fellow has the shinplasters 
a Dutch Jew sutler don't stand very heavy on 
orders. 

Ofttimes has it been demonstrated that neces- 
sity is the maternal ancestor of invention. We 
Dixie boys are fully aware of the scarcity of many 
little articles of prime necessity among the ladies 
of the South, and we don't forget that, as in the 
past, so in the future, we may at some time be 
dependent on them for socks, gloves and other 
things. 

Yesterday I bought some needles, pins and 
other little tricks designed for Southern maidens 
who have been friends to me, and I will aim to 
out- Yankee a Yankee in getting my chattels 
through the lines. 

I have laid away a little sack of coffee for a 
good old mother I know in the South, and, if she 
now knew what was in store for her, I know her 
mouth would water, for she ain't had a drink of 
the pure stuff for many a day. 

Last night six rebel officers came in from Fort 

Delav/are, and this morning several others from 

another quarter. The Federal authorities an- 
il 



162 CAMP, FIELD A:N^D PETSOIS" LIFE. 

nounce that it is the intention of Mr. Lincoln to 
collect all the rebel officers at Johnson's Island, 
and hold them here till Mr. Davis makes an appro- 
priate reply to his communication with regard to 
exchange and retaliation. We have no voice in 
the matter, and can only await the result of coming 
events. True, we have a longing to be on Southern 
soil and breathe the air of freedom once more, 
but, if the honor of our government and the fur- 
therance of our cause demand it, there is scarcely 
an one here that would not, without a murmur, 
suffer many more months of martyrdom. 

The sutlers surely imagine, and have some 
assurances, that they will drive a fat trade for 
some time to come, for they are building an addi- 
tion to their store house ; and, though only com- 
menced yesterday, it is now almost finished, for 
the prisoner boys, anxious for something to do, 
pitched in and made light work of it. Hereafter 
there will be two departments — one for dry goods, 
the other for groceries and vegetables, and two 
clerks will preside over each. 

Last night we, that is myself and room mates, 
put our dirty clothes to soak, this forenoon we 
put out our washing in good style to dry, and 
to-morrow, like the old folks at home, we will iron 
out the wrinkles. 

The loyal forces here don't put much confidence 
in us representatives of the Southern Confederacy, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE 163 

nor do I blame tliem, for tlie fellows are continii- 
ally trj^ing to play off pranks on tliem. We are 
not allowed to liave any interconrse with the sen- 
tinels on guard, and those who come inside the 
prison on duty are forbidden to carry out anything 
for a prisoner, and are closely watched by the 
head officials ; still, a contraband letter or some- 
thing else will find its way out every now and 
then. 

A slop cart comes in every day to haul out, in 
barrels, the refuse of the kitchens. For some days 
past we have noticed that a guard accompanies 
the slop man, and curiosity tempting us to pry 
in':o the why of the matter, we learned that he 
had entered into an agreement with one of the 
Southern chivalry to cover him up in a slop barrel 
and haul him. out. "When the plot was almost 
consummated somebody "let the cat out of the 
wallet," and Mr. Rebel had to be dumped out. 

On lightning wings the news comes to us that 
the Federal godhead, cabinet and wise men of 
the ISTorth are caucusing, scheming and concoct- 
ing plans whereby the rebellious States may be 
brought back into the sisterhood. Supervisor 
Halleck has, by some mysterious means, found 
out tliat the populace, and many of the leaders of 
the South, are willing to play quits and come 
back. The real motor power of their deep solici- 
tude is foreign fear rather than domestic love. A 



164 CAMP, FIELD AND FKTSOlSr LIFE. 

war with France or England could be easil}^ gotten 
up ; they feel that a divided house can not stand, 
and they conceive that, though we still shoot at 
them, we love them better than a foreign people, 
and they further conclude that we, being weak, 
and both of us in imminent danger from abroad, 
would gladly go into an alliance for mutual pro- 
tection. Mistaken souls! they dream not of the 
reality. 

There are to-day two Republican and tv/o 
Democratic parties in the North, consequently a 
complete jargon and confusion. The Radical 
Republicans would have peace on no other basis 
than the immediate and complete extinction of 
the institution of slavery ; the Conservative Re- 
publicans hate slavery, but are willing to gradual 
emancipation : the Unconditional Union Demo- 
crats are willing to abide by the edicts of the 
Grand Mogul, compelling their consciences to 
admit that it will all be well ; the Simon-pure 
Democracy would have the Constitution carried 
out in spirit and in truth ; they believe that the 
people are the government and the public ofhcials 
the servants, not the masters of the people, to 
preserve in purity and operate in good faith that 
Magna Charta of liberty and government be- 
queathed to them. 

The President, not yet quite lost to all sense of 
national honor and justice, has not pitched his 



CAMP, FIELD ATTD PRISOX LIFE. 165 

weight into either balance, though his sympathies 
are Republican. The gordian coil is so momen- 
tous, complex and intricate that no mortal genius 
can unravel it ; an omnipotent, higher Power must 
be appealed to for a righteous solution of the 
problem. 

Tlie eyes of the whole world are now gazing on 
us, and the universal press is teeming with specu- 
lations as to the probable result of the present 
state of affairs, some seeing a bright future for 
one side and some for the other. 

August 14th. — For several days i^ast Captain 
Brantly and myself have been reading a religious 
work urging objections against the doctrine of 
punishment in the world to come, and advocating 
that of Universalism. Night before last we had 
a discussion on the subject in my room, Brantly 
continually protesting that he was no Universalist, 
still he could not see how a greater portion of 
their arguments could be got around. When the 
drum tapped for "lights out," we stojjped just 
where we began, perhaps neither wiser nor better. 

Last night there was prayer meeting in tlie 
mess adjoining ours, Lieut. Methvin, of Georgia, 
conducting the exercises, and Cajitain Hodge, of 
my regiment, leading in praj^er. The brilliant 
divine from Missouri, Colonel Lewis, now belongs 
to our mess. Yesterday we had a splendid mess 



166 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PEISOl^J" LIFE. 

of string beans and beets for dinner at our lionse, 
the first of the season for us. 

A little incident has just occurred calculated to 
mollify the monotonous routine of our thoughts 
and emotions. Two sisters of Lieut. Brand came 
from Missouri to see him, which, of course, was 
contraband, unless it could be done by getting on 
an eminence some where close by and peeping 
over the wall with a good pair of opera glasses, 
which expedient was adopted as a " dernier re- 
sort." Of course, they love all the rebel boys ; it 
was a novel thing, and there were many gazers, 
and not a few expressions of kindly feeling and 
sympathy were exchanged by gestures, waving of 
hanr" kerchiefs, and wafting kisses on the breeze. 

An order has come from the War Department, 
restricting the amount of clothing for prisoners to 
one suit of outer and a change of under clothing, 
but the chink can come along as usual, and with 
it a sharp fellow can get anything. Some of the 
rioters in New York are reaping the fruit of their 
work ; numbers are being arrested daily and tried, 
and a part of them find lodgings in Sing-Sing for 
from three months to three years. The great rebel 
privateer Alabama is again spreading consterna- 
tion and destruction amongst the American ship- 
ping; a large merchant vessel has been seized 
and converted into a war ship, and not a few have 
served as bonfires to light the ocean all around. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 167 

This day I was the happy recipient of a letter 
from my mother, full of sweet and consoling sym- 
pathy. Oh ! what a blessing it is for one locked 
up in prison to have such a mother, one whose 
every word and every sentiment is calculated to 
make a son happier and better. And I am just 
in receipt of a half-dozen New York Ledgers from 
home, which will keep me busy and contented for 
several days. 

All the fore part of to-day I have been engaged 
in making potato pies after a fashion of my own ; 
we had one for dinner, which was pronounced as 
good enough for anybody. I spend some part of 
most every day in cooking, for it furnishes em- 
ployment, and then I like the sequel. I fix up 
most of my dishes after a style known to nobody 
else ; in fact, they are experiments with myself, 
but I seldom fail to get up an eatable dish, though 
in the case of a certain " bread pudding" not long 
ago, I made almost an utter failure. 

Although I can wash first-rate, I never tried to 
iron a linen shirt till yesterday ; my starch was 
too thick, my iron too cold, and instead of turning 
to a glossy surface, the stuif formed into little 
rolls and balls under the iron, and when I at last 
gave up in disgust, the garment looked worse than 
when I began. I have a sutler's ticket which will 
surely make the shine come upon my linen next 
time. 



168 CAMP, FIELD AiSTD PEISOIST LITE. 

This evening, when the sun had so far declined 
as to make a shade on the east side of our bar- 
racks, about one liundred of us, including generals, 
colonels, captains, sergeants and privates, engaged 
in an exciting game of town ball, furnishing fun 
and exercise till the flag went down, when perhaps 
four score voices yelled out all over the prison, 
" Rats, to your holes " — not very classic, but sug- 
gestive language. Sometimes we have foot races, 
and at other times the boys wrestle — in fact, any- 
thing is done that will give exercise and keep up 
an excitement. 

August 15. — The daylight is gone, and a serene, 
starlit sky is looking down on us and our islet 
home, and a phosphorescent blaze from the light- 
house over on yonder ]Doint lights up the lake 
between here and there, and a dozen reflecting 
lamps cast a soft light all over the prison yard. 

Some of the inmates are sitting out on the ver- 
andahs discussing war and home topics ; others 
are in their quarters, some sitting straddle of a 
bench playing poker or seven-up, while others 
stand b}^ gazing on. Some are sitting or standing 
in groups singing a familiar hymn or a favorite 
war song, while others are writing to the dear 
onus at home, and still others are reading trashy 
novels ; some are fast asleep, while others are 
merrily scuffling around and over tlieiu. 

And now, while all these states of being are 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 169 

around me, I, in the quietude of my own little 
room, will proceed to write up my day's journal 
by the flickering light of the stump of a candle, 
which is glued to our little shelf as a candlestick ; 
nor have I any table upon which to write, except 
a piece of plank and my lap. 

Neither the grape-vine nor the electric telegraph 
worked much to-day, and we were very well satis- 
fied, for it is so awful hot and sultry that the 
fellows were too lazy to talk about it. It is a great 
fashion for the Southern gentry here to go en 
dlsliabille ; many of them don't wear shoes half 
the time, and coats are seldom seen, except hang- 
ing on a nail. Those who have good clothes take 
more pride in looking at them than in wearing 
them, which was not the case with them in palmier 
days. 

Just before the call to quarters this evening one 
of our notables made his appearance upon the 
upper balcony of Block 3, and as the fellows could 
see he was ripe for something, they called for a 
" hard shell " sermon from the honorable gentle- 
man. Without much persuasion, he launched 
forth on one of his rich sermons, which soon 
brought out a considerable crowd, who would 
sometimes burst forth in shouts of applause, then 
again in laughter, and when he had finished three 
rousing cheers went up for " Youngblood." Then, 
as an afterpiece^ he told one of his lawyer-preacher 



170 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

stories in liis own style, and tlie merry crowd dis- 
persed to their liomes to laugli and grow fat. 

And sometliing occurred in the evening to put 
tliem in a humor for laughing. Uncle Tommy 
Stevenson, or " Old Pap," as he loves to be called, 
who, by the way, is our postmaster, and has been 
here about a 3^ear, got a suit of clothes yesterday 
from Missouri, and this evening he came out 
dressed in grand style, presenting a visible con- 
trast to his usually sloven garb. The prisoners 
flocked around him as little boys would about a 
monkey, and beset him with all kinds of questions 
and jokes, and it was fun to him to humor them 
to their heart's content. So goes life in the prison 
land. 

August 16. — This is the Sabbath day, and the 
last one in which I shall write in this journal, for 
I am near unto its end. Whether or not it may 
prove interesting to those into whose hands it may 
fall I can not tell, but to me its contents are, and 
ever will be, precious ; for 'tis full of real life 
incidents, inseparably connected with a great era 
in my life — incidents that, though their existence 
shall fade away, their impressions can not, for 
they are indelibly stamped on my memory, and 
the effects of some of them are in my heart 
Though the future is, perchance, fuller of events, 
and mighty ones, in which I may be a participant, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOIST LIFE. 171 

still none can erase those already imprinted on 
my mind and remembrance. 

From seven to twenty I was most all the while 
in the schoolroom, and had every reasonable 
facility for acquiring knowledge, but all that the- 
oretical learning is not worth the stern practice of 
the past two years. Then I saw the world, its 
people and machinery, political and physical, 
through the dark and uncertain medium of falla- 
cious and prejudicial history. The virtues of the 
good were over-estimated and the wickedness of 
the evil exag2:erated. Then I, as the rest of man- 
kind who had not seen life in all ranks and 
phases, had too great credulity in the prominent 
men of our laud ; I believed what they thought 
and said was surely so. 

Now I have learned to believe that there are 
none without deliciencies, and that if you would 
truly know a man, you must weigh him by some 
adequate standard ; for some, one test will do ; 
for some, it requires another. Extensive obser- 
vation has convinced me that interest and self- 
aggrandizement are two powerful elements in the 
characters of most men, and that those traits 
have had a full share in bringing on and keeping 
up this strife. 

Sabbath afternoon, 16tli of August. — This 
morning the Rev. Mr. Samplin preached for us, 
and this evenino; there will be services in front of 



172 CAMP, FIELP AND PEISON LIFE. 

Block 13. Our ministers invoke the blessings of 
Heaven uj)on our cause, and pray tliat wisdom 
and strength may be given to our President ; and 
they urge the propriety of observing the 21st 
instant, a day appointed by President Davis for 
"fasting, humiliation and pra3^er." It may be 
that- the authorities will forbid an open expres- 
sion, but the workings of our hearts are incomat- 
able — not to be ruled by force. 

All around the prison now is calm and still, 
like a city on Sunday ; the mandates of the 
Good Giver of all are not wholly forgotten, 
though 'tis true that soldiers become more care- 
less of life and less considerate, or at least seem- 
ingly so, of hereafter than circumstances demand. 
But the army, when, properly disciplined, has not 
that demoralizing influence accredited to it by the 
world. In fact, many men see their own bad 
traits so disgustingly portrayed in the conduct of 
others that they repent and are reformed. 

This struggle has heaved up oceans of hidden, 
mysterious character and talent. Many, very 
many, hitherto unknown to the world have proved 
as shining jewels, and not a few have been 
weighed and found wanting. Yerily, it is a time 
that tries men's souls. 

AUGUST 18 — A EETROSPECTIVE GLANCE. 

I can not look back over the soldier life I've spent 
and think of the thousand haj)py associations 



CAMP. FIELD AXD PRISOISr LIFE. 173 

I've found, of tlie many nice cities I've seen, of 
tlie beautiful uplands and delightful valleys, and 
of the picturesque hills and grand, rugged moun- 
tains where my feet have wandered, without feel- 
ings of regret — regret because a great many of 
them have passed away from my sight forever. 

Let him who will soliloquize on the dangerous, 
turmoiling and comfortless life of a soldier, and 
feel in imagination and proclaim aloud that there 
are — there can be — no joys attached to such a 
mode of existence. I speak not from concep- 
tions, but from a taste of the stern realities, and 
can say, with a free conscience, that the past two 
3^ears of my field, camp and social experience 
have been quite as agreeable as any like period 
in my former life. 

I entered upon this struggle, as I did my colle- 
giate course, determined to persevere unto the 
end, and take all that came as that which was to 
be, murmuring not at hardships or disappoint- 
ments. My rule of action has worked happily, 
and now I'm ready, so soon as relieved from duty 
here, to strike out on another year's campaign in 
Dixie. My heart is as light and my faith in the 
justice of the cause as strong as the day I entered 
the lists. 

From Camp Boone, Tennessee, in August, 1861, 
by a circuitous and zigzag route to Vicksburg, in 
May, 1863, is the line of my adventures, and my 



174 CAMP, FIELD A^"D PEISOX LIFE, 

chain of memory lingers and finds something 
'ronnd which to entwine in everj^ vale and along 
the banks of every rippling stream on the ronte. 

Many hundreds with whom I have traveled and 
toiled through those scenes are gone ; yes, their 
bones lie bleaching on the banks of Green river, 
Kentucky; on the plains of Donelson, Shiloh, 
Perryville, Murfreesboro, and around the classic 
fortress of Yicksburg, and wherever any army 
camped, the rough oaken slab tells of the resting 
place of him that was stricken from life by 
disease. 

If our hearts are not adamantine, can their 
sympathies help still clustering 'round those 
spots made hallowed by the blood of our loved 
comrades, and is there not a monument of mem- 
ory reared on each battle-field and in each grave- 
yard ? 

Pleasing recollections do now, and ever will, 
cling around those in social life about whose 
homes I haj)pened to be and whose generous hos- 
pitality I enjoyed. There are very many mothers 
and sisters in the South land who, by their kind- 
ness, have endeared themselves to me by linka 
that neither time nor distance can sever. 

'Tis now just three months since our capture — 
since we were transferred from the Department of 
General Pemberton, first to that of General Grant, 
then to that of General Burnside, and prospects 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 175 

bid fair that we are now permanently located, 
tliongli the rumor is afloat this morning that news 
has come from Washington pointing to a speedy 
exchange or parole. Some flx the further time of 
our stay here at one month, some at six, some 
twelve, and others for the war. ExjDress letters, 
with money, are coming in at a rate that indicates 
the majority are fixing up for a long stay, and I 
would not be surprised if their heads were level 
on the subject. 

Let us here take a glimpse at the panorama of 
war presented to view. It would seem that Gen- 
erals Grant and Pemberton had agreed mutually 
to suspend hostilities for a time, for they are inac- 
tive, and many officers and men are being paroled, 
and Commodore Farragut and a host of Yankee 
Generals are now on a visit North. Perhaps the 
tide of battle will swell again and sway toward 
Mobile before the close of the year. 

The armies of Lee and Meade are comparatively 
inactive, but watching each other with eagle eye. 
Bragg and Rosecrans, though they seem to be 
dormant, are, no doubt, making strategical 
moves. Generals Burnside and Buckner are each 
standing off watching for a favorable hour. The 
cavalry everywhere, save in West Tennessee, 
seem to be doing little else than picketing and 
scouting. Generals Beauregard and Gilmore, at 
Charleston, are " pegging away," each confident 



176 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOW LIFE. 

of success. Tlie Trans-Mississippi Department 
is in full blast, and tlie probabilities are that 
some definite results will be accomplished there 
the ensuing fall. 

It would be futile to speculate where the vast 
tide of battle, stretching in two great military- 
lines, almost from the Atlantic to the Pacific, will 
tend, or what the result will be, for no man 
knoweth. 

The Federal nation believe that the defeat 
of the rebellion is now a fixed fact, and the Con- 
federate nation is as much determined to be free 
as the day the first blow was struck. "We must 
leave it to high Heaven to determine the justice 
of our cause, and to mete out the rewards we 
severally deserve. 



CAMP, FIELD AIS-D PEISOIST LIFE. 177 



CHAPTER YIII. 



JoNESBORO, Washington County, East Tennessee, \ 

July 1, 1865. t 

Almost two years have rolled into eternity since 
J finished up my first sketches of " Camp, Field 
and Prison Life," but in the meantime, as subse- 
quent chapters will show, I have not been asleep, 
neither have I been idle. All through the year 
1864, and up to date, I have kept brief notes of 
what was transpiring all around, promising 
myself, at an opportune time, to write them out 
in a more elaborate form ; and to-day, as I look 
over those suggestive jottings, the panorama of 
prison life for 1864 is as vivid as though it had 
passed away but yesterday. 

The first manuscript was written to fill up the 
lonesome, vacant hours generally attending life 
in prison, and this is penned under similar influ- 
ences and circumstances, the diiference being that 
then I was a prisoner of war, now I am a prisoner 
of State. Then I had a host of companions and 

a large boundary for exercise ; now I'm all alone, 
12 



178 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOTi LIFE. 

and my extreme limits are a room, perhaps six- 
teen feet square, with a small door and two 
diminutive windows, so checkered with iron bars 
that only a moderate portion of light linds its 
way in to me ; and, although my situation might 
seem extremely disagreeable, almost terrible, to 
those hearing of it,' I am resting comparatively 
easy and content, " waiting for sometliing to 
turn up." 

It may be well to tell, just now, why I am here. 
In the spring of 1862, while serving in the Depart- 
ment of East Tennessee as a military detective 
and general police officer, I was ordered by Col. 
William M. Churchwell, Provost Marshal of the 
Department, to come from Knoxville to this county 
with a detachment of six men, and arrest and de- 
liver at his headquarters a man who, he said, had 
been repeatedly reported to him as notoriously 
disloyal and dangerous to the Confederate cause. 
I came on the cars to Jonesboro, one hundred 
miles, and went, at night, twenty miles, through a 
rugged, mountainous country, crossing a swollen 
river at a dangerous ford, took the man into cus- 
tody, stated to him what was my duty and what 
his, under the circumstances, and promised him 
the kindest treatment in our power if he did not 
rebel or attempt to escape, but notifying him 
explicitly that if he attempted to get away it 
was our duty and orders to fire on him 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 179 

He acquiesced in all I said and made fair prom- 
ises, but afterward broke to run, and was fired 
upon, receiving a wound in the calf of the leg 
and one in the small of the back. I thought the 
wounds were more serious than they proved to 
be, so I took him to his house, sent for a doctor, 
and we made tracks from that quarter, feeling 
certain that the "mountain men" would collect 
and overwhelm and murder us if we tarried there. 
Fearing misconceptions and misstatements of the 
facts in the case, I published immediately in the 
Jonesboro Express a detailed account of the 
whole affair, and no one seemed to censure me 
for. my conduct, In consideration of the circum- 
stances, nor did the Provost Marshal think I had 
acted improperly when I reported the matter to 
him. 

Time passed on ; I went to the Department of 
Mississippi and was cajDtured in May, 1863 ; spent 
nearly two years in a Northern prison ; was re- 
leased on parole, and, the war having ended, I, on 
the 1st day of June, 1865, started from Western 
Virginia to my home in Kentucky with a gladsome 
heart at the idea and prospect of meeting those 
who, after four years' absence, seemed dearer to 
me than ever. 

After a tiresome journey on foot of one hundred 
miles, I reached this point on the 7th day of June, 
little suspecting any evil ahead, feeling uncon- 



180 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON" LIFE 

scions of having committed any wrong. I repaired 
to the home of Mr. Slemmons, whose good lady 
had been like a mother to me in days of yore, 
and expected to take the cars, next morning for 
home, by the way of Knoxville, Chattanooga, 
Nashville and Lonisville. When I entered the 
town all the children, white and black, playing in 
the streets, recognized me, thongh they had not 
seen me for three years, and my presence v/as 
soon pnblished all over town. 

In a little while I was waited upon by Mr. 
Sliiply, county sheriff, and, by the way,^a clever 
gentleman, who requested me to appear before a 
magistrate to answer to the charge of " assa*iilt 
and battery, with intent to kill." I went straight- 
way, and the only witness was one of the men 
who had gone with me to make the arrest. He 
made no gross misstatement of facts ; then I had 
my say, which was mainly to corroborate and 
explain what he said. I claimed that I was act- 
ing strictly under orders, and that if there was 
any wrong, a higher power was responsible. Mr. 
Magistrate could not see it in that light, and said 
that, though I was acting under orders, and was 
justified by Confederate laws, it all amounted to 
nothing now, for the Confederacy was "played 
out," and those laws were illegal, and that he 
must consider it as an offense against the civil 
lav/s, and so deal with it. When his august 

I 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOT^ LIFE. 181 

majesty put tlie matter in that shape, I had no 
longer any ground for defense, and went to jail 
in default of $2,000 bail. 

The next number of the Joneshoro Union Flag 
contained an article headed, in flaming capitals, 
" Arrest of the Notorious Capt. Wash /" Among 
other things it said : " This individual made his 
appearance on our streets and seemed to take the 
liberties of a martial knight, which was a speci- 
men of the most audacious impudence that has 
occurred during the war, when it is remembered 
that this is the same ilotorious individual who, in 
1802, took a posse of rebel guerrillas, went into 
Greasy Cove, in this county, and, at the house of 
an old and esteemed Union man, Mr. Tinker, 
literally shot him to pieces." The public will 
know how to appreciate the foregoing when they 
learn that its author was connected with the same 
ofRce when it belched forth Southern sympathies 
and plead for the Southern cause. In olden times 
the renegades from any cause were its most in- 
veterate and ignoble enemies, and history seems 
to be continually repeating itself. The sequel to 
my Jonesboro imbroglio will, be found in the 
closing chapters of this journal. It is enough 
here to say that, in three weeks. Tinker was in 
the mountains bushwhacking again, and was 
killed by some North Carolina troops perhaps a 
year after. 



182 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOJiT LIFE. 

As it is now almost certain tliat I will have to 
tarry here several weeks, I will neither cry, swear 
nor laugh over it, but calmly settle myself down, 
and employ a greater portion of my time in 
writing out, from the sparse notes in my memor- 
andum, my recollections of the year 18G4. 

But, before entering thereon, I will remark that 
I am kindly cared for by my custodian and his 
lady, and receive many favors and delicacies from 
the ladies about town. And in regard to the 
situation of the country generally, I would observe 
that East Tennessee is, probably, in the most nu- 
ll appy predicament of any section in the South. 
The railroads are open throughout its extent, and 
goods of -ever}^ description are plentiful, nor are 
many of the people actually suffering for food, 
but the antagonism caused by bitter partisan 
feelings, and the countless instances of abuse, 
insult, cruelty and inhumanity perpetrated by 
both parties — the offender and the offended often 
being old neighbors and friends — has produced 
such a state of feeling that hundreds of families, 
who are now in exile, must remain away, and 
many others must leave, if they Avould prosper 
or be happy. . 

If matters go on as at present, almost the entire 
property of nearly all the prominent rebels will 
be confiscated or taken by damage suits brought 
by Union men who have in somewise fared badly 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 183 

at tlie hands of tlie Confederates. I am liappy to 
say that in Virginia, where I have been since the 
downfall of the Confederacy, such is not the case. 
The citizens there are generally on as good terms 
as before the war, and the amount of litigation is 
comparatively small. 

And now, before going back to bring up the 
incidents of 1864, let us take an inventory of my 
visible household and personal j)roperty. I look 
around me and behold : for my bed, two blankets ; 
for my pillow, a haversack, containing a change 
of under clothing ; for my water bucket, a half- 
gallon tin measure, now sitting on a brick. I have 
but one chair, which seems to indicate that I. don't 
propose to have much company. My hat and 
coat liang on the nail where I placed them the 
first night I took lodgings here, to stay till I get 
ready to leave. The foregoing, and a small stock 
of stationery, two novels and three newspapers, 
complete my stock on hand. Imagine the grated 
door and windows from the interior of any ordi- 
nary county jail, and you have the picture com- 
plete. 

When I glance through my note book at some 
of the items that helped to fill up the year 1864, 
there comes rushing to my mind and before my 
mental vision ten thousand things not recorded in 
my book, but which made a vivid, unfading im- 
pression on my recollection, and to-day I have a 



184 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PEISON LIFE. 

pleasing remembrance of many of those prison 
scenes and associations. 

But there are not many pleasing recollections 
connected with the very beginning of 1SC4. The 
first item jotted down in my diary is : " January 
1st. Coldest day of the season, and the coldest for 
several years ; wood rations short, and saws and 
axes in demand." Without doubt, it was the 
coldest day I ever experienced ; it was impossible 
to keep warm either by going to bed or hovering 
round our stoves, they red hot. The most violent 
exercise had but little effect in warming the body 
or hands, and wherever a drop of water touched 
it congealed instantly, and I knew of several 
bunks being burned for fuel. Everybody, both 
gray jackets and blue jackets, kept indoors, un- 
less compelled to be out, and the sentinels, who 
were often relieved, paced their beats at a double 
quick all the time. 

The 2d day of January was almost as frigid, 
the thermometer standing 10 degrees below zero, 
or 42 degrees below the freezing point. Sandusky 
bay was now tightly frozen over, and there was a 
world of ice all around us. Our mail came over 
on the ice, and that night several fellows whose 
proper place was inside the pen, proposed to take 
advantage of the temporary crystal bridge con- 
necting us with the main land, change front to 
rear, and make a demonstration on Canada. It 



/ 

CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON- LIFE. 185 

was SO intensely cold tliat tlie guards generally 
kejjt close in tlieir sentry boxes. Four valorous 
lads from the cotton States eluded tlieir vigilance, 
scaled tlie vt^alls, and made tracks for the British 
Possessions. One lost his gloves, and his hands 
were so frozen that, at the end of a few miles, he 
had to give up ; another got sick from extreme 
exertion in the cold, and laid by several days at 
the house of a Copperhead near Toledo. When 
he resumed his journey, and took the train for 
Detroit, which is near the Canada line, a detective, 
who was ou the lookout for just such fellows, 
nabbed him, and the next day he was at his old 
post, taking a free lunch with Uncle Sam. The 
other two had better luck, and in a few days sent 
us glad tidings of their safe arrival in the domain 
of Queen Victoria. 

January 3d, Colonel Cluke, of Kentucky, died 
very suddenly in his quarters — disease not clearly 
defined ; nor was that the only case in which a 
prisoner had been cut down, almost without warn- 
ing. In fact, many of the diseases about prison 
seemed to assume a different type from the same 
diseases in camp or in civil life. 

On the morning of the 4th the wind commenced 
blowing from the east, and by noon the ice had 
been driven from the open lake on to the blockade 
east of our prison, till it was piled up from ten to 
thirty feet high, and perhaps a mile long. In the 



186 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOIST LIFE. 

afternoon a nnmber of Yankee soldiers went- out 
on a skating expedition, and to view and exi:)lore 
tlie magnificent scene ; and from our position tlie 
scene had a strildng resemblance to the pictures 
and tales of explorers among the icebergs in the 
arctic regions. 

That evening a large amount of express matter, 
that had been accumulating at Sandusky for some 
daj^s, came in, and, as was always the case, it was 
thrice welcomed. After supper I went to the hos- 
pital to see some sick friends, and I noticed three 
corpses in the dead room. The extreme cold 
weather seems to have increased the mortality, 
which, for a month before and after that time, was 
greater than for any like period while I was there. 
The following day, when I went to visit some 
friends at Block 12, 1 found them building ladders 
and plotting to escape that night. The ladders 
were made of benches stolen from the mess rooms. 
Just about the time the scheme and preparations 
were complete some traitor in our midst informed 
the authorities, who caused the ladders to be con- 
fiscated and the scheme abandoned. During the 
day the weather moderated very much, and the 
snow fell to the depth of four inches. 

The 6th was clear and cold, and the daily papers 
from all parts of the country came filled with 
descriptions of the effects of the bitter cold wea- 
ther; many trains were blocked up in every 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOIST LIFE. 187 

quarter, and both persons and stock were frozen 
to death all over the land. Many sleighs, horses 
attached, came over on the ice that day; some 
parties came on business and some for curiosity 
and pleasure. The post commandant received 
orders to make out a roll of five hundred prisoners 
for exchange, and who will think strange when I 
say the whole prison was wild with excitement 
and joy. 

And here let me record an act of Yankee kind- 
ness and generosity. That day Major Scoville, 
prison superintendent, presented to the members 
of my room two dozen delicious apples. Wor is 
this the only time I will have to mention kindness 
at his hands ; never have I met with a more kind 
Federal officer. In this connection I will note an 
incident, containing some of the milk of human 
kindness, which took place at the incipiency of 
ni}^ imprisonment. It was before I got any cloth- 
ing, money, ]3apers or anything else, and I was 
longing for something to read, to take my thoughts 
off of unpleasant things. 

I learned that Major Scoville had a library at 
his office, and seeing that he was inclined to be 
accommodating, I asked him if he Avould bting 
me in something to read. To my pleasant sur- 
prise, he asked me to go out with him to his 
office and make a choice from his library, which 
I did. While I was scanning the books, prepar- 



188 CAMP, FIELD AND PKISON LIFE. 

atorj to a choice, lie went back into his little bed 
room and brought forth a silver cup and an old- 
fashioned jug, saying, while a pleasant smile 
wreathed his countenance, that it contained a 
little " old rye " for medical purposes, and that 
he seldom drank with rebels, but, if I said so, we 
would see what it was good for, "When it is 
known that I am a creature possessed of more 
curiosity than anything on earth, except a 
woman, the world will not judge me harshh^ 
for being tempted to test the merits of Scoville's 
best. 

I belie-fe it was the 7th of January that the 
sutler was ordered to close out straightway ; we 
could not see any reason, except as a retaliatory 
measure. One thing which is not down in my 
note book, but which I remember well, is that 
Mr. Sutler left me with $2.50 worth of- his checks, 
worthless when he went away, and it was at a 
time when money was money with us. 

Our fuel was hauled to us in the shape of cord- 
wood, and each morning a Yankee corporal would 
bring in and distribute to each block an ax and a 
saw, which were carried out at night, for fear we 
might devote them to unruly purposes. 

One evening Colonel Johnson, of Arkansas, 
and a Captain Somebody, disguised themselves 
in loyal apparel, and when the time came for the 
axes and saws to go out, each collected an armful 



CAMP, FIELD A]SrD PPwlSOI-T LIFE, 1S9 

and marched along. Leaving tlie tools at the 
proper place, they left the island and struck out 
afoot to visit some of their friends in Canada. 
But they had not gone far beyond Sandusky 
before they were recognized as Southern gentle- 
men and furnished an escort back to our home in 
-the lake. At most of the Northern prisons it was 
a custom to punish prisoners for attempting to 
escape, but with us they were generally simply 
relieved of what they had contraband and turned 
loose — always inside the pen. 

No papers were allowed to come into prison on 
the 8th of January ; we didn't know why, unless 
it was that they contained news too good for us un- 
patriotic fellows. Tliat day there were a hundred 
coniiicting rumors on the subject of exchange — one 
which was ever and anon in the minds and on 
the tongues of a great many of those fellows 
who had been caught in the overt act of trying to 
break up the government, and had therefor been 
consigned to short rations and narrow limits. 
It seems that at that date full power had been 
given General Butler to effect an exchange, and 
we were eagerly expecting something good for us 
to turn up. And, to add to the stir in camp, a 
rebel Lieutenant who had applied to take the 
oath, was detected by his comrades and kicked 
out of prison by his room-mates, and a squad of 



190 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISON LIFE. 

loyalists liad to come in to quiet down tlip excite- 
ment 'mong the Southern boys. 

On the 9th the excitement and flurry rose again 
to even a higher pitch than the day before. The 
Sandusky Register^ which, though we hated it, 
we were always glad to get, contained a telegram 
saying that all the prisoners were to be removed 
from Johnson's Island to Fort Delaware and Point 
Lookout. In a very short time groups of secesh 
could be seen all over the prison jDen laying 
plans for escape on the way, and some almost 
conceived that they were actually gone, so sure 
were they of getting away. But full many a time 
did our hearts swell with joy and hope only to 
collapse again in bitter disappointment ; and well 
do I remember that on that da}^, as well as the 
whole week previous, I in vain watched the mails 
for letters. My correspondence was one of my 
most potent sources of comfort. 

The succeeding day Colonel L. M. Lewis, of the 
Seventh Missouri, preached for us. He was one 
of our most talented comj^anions and decidedly 
the most interesting divine in prison. He roomed 
next door to me, and was, for a time, my tutor in 
French. The same day Captain Barnes, of the 
Masonic fraternity, was buried by the Order, of 
which Colonel Lewis was President. And here I 
will record my good opinion of that Order. From 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 191 

early cliildliood I had imbibed a dislike to aii}'- 
tliing liidden or secret, for I imagined that wliat- 
ever ^ras meritorious would not suffer by being 
brought out into the light. But now I take it all 
back, and give my testimony in behalf of Free- 
masonry as a good and valuable institution. 
During my stay in prison I had ample chance to 
watch its workings. 

A little flock of perhaps three hundred of the 
Order had been gathered up from every quarter 
and sent to stay with us. They were regularly 
organized for such charitable ministering as was 
in their power among the fraternity. If one was 
sick the brotherhood were detailed to wait upon 
him, by da}^ and by night, till he got well ; and if 
he had no means, a collection was taken up from 
the scanty purses of his comrades to procure 
whatever dainties or comforts were to be had ; if 
he died, they gave him the most decent burial 
possible. At first they proposed to procure a 
metallic case for every member of the fraternity 
who might die, but soon found it inexpedient, for 
want of means. In many ways did the Masons 
prove themselves worthy, and many an incident 
have I heard of humanity, prompted by a 
Masonic brotherly feeling, on the field of strife ; 
sometimes it would be the victorious Federal 
showing kindness to the unfortunate Confederate, 
and sometimes the rebel soldier dealins: out kind 



193 CAMP, FIELD A^T> PEISO:^' LIFE. 

words and sweet comforts to his Masonic brother 
though a foeman in another canse. 

My memorandum says that on the 12th an 
escaped rebel was caught, and that I had an 
argument with a Yankee Major. Of course it 
was Major Scoville, and the subject abolition- 
ism or treatment of prisoners, for we often had 
friendly discussions about those matters. 

The day after that a brigade of A'eteran troops 
arrived from the Army of the Potomac, and 
many were the surmises as to the object of their 
presence. It appears that the authorities were 
fearing a revolt among us, and were preparing to 
make our stay doubly sure. The whole brigade 
crossed Sandusky Bay on the ice. The day was 
balmy and magnificent. 

I took two books that I had just finished read- 
ing to the " circulating library," and traded them 
oif for others. That day Captain Broughton, of 
Texas, my bunk mate, returned to his quarters 
from a long stay in the hospital, where he had 
almost breathed his last with the small-pox. He 
remained in his room several days after being 
taken sick, and I slept with him till the small-pox 
broke out on his skin — until then we did not know 
what ailed him. For several days after that 
everybody, my room mates included, wag very 
shy of me, but I was not in the least alarmed, nor 
did I ever have the least symptoms of the disease. 



CAMP, PIELD A:MD PRISON LIFE. 193 

There was a fresh fall of snow on the IStli, and 
the lads with their lassies, from Sandusky City 
were sleighing on the ice all around our place 
of abode. Our mail and express matter came 
over on the ice, and I received the photograph of 
a good lady friend. The papers said Gen. Long- 
street was advancing in East Tennessee, and that 
there had been a light at Strawberry Plains, which 
was one of my old camping grounds, and that 
day we got an extra good ration of wood, which 
was not an unpleasant item with us. The next 
day was delightful, and Brig. -Gen. Terry, now 
commanding post, came in to inspect the prison ; 
he talked mighty nice and promised better rations, 
but took care not to send them. 

Next day was Sunday, and the snow having 
melted, the whole prison yard was a pond of slosh. 
I spent the day reading E. Bulwer Lytton's " Cax- 
tons," and there were pleasant but false rumors 
about the sutler returning. On Monday a United 
States army surgeon inspected the prison, and 
passed a high encomium on the cleanliness and 
neatness of our room, and in fact our domestic 
arrangements were in better and more systematic 
shape than most any other room in prison. 

That day I built a new patent right chair, we 

installed a new cook, and my notes say that we 

enjoyed slim rations and increased appetites, nor 

do I doubt it, for it was a universal complaint. 
13 



194 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOIS' LIFE. 

It snowed almost incessantly during tlie day 
and night of the 19th, and the ground was covered 
to the depth of ten inches next morning, and all 
hands were full of glee and in a humor for snow 
balling, at which we had a regular old-fashioned 
good time. The garrison guard, which was fifty- 
four men daily, was now increased to eighty-four 
at night. As a .hungry wolf is more bold and 
aggressive, I reckon they reasoned likewise about 
us. 

On the morning of January 21st the officers of 
Terry's brigade made their first appearance in the 
prison at roll call, and they introduced a. new 
order of things : every fellow had to be at the 
beginning of roll call or lose his day's rations, 
not a pleasant thing, as his neighbors had none 
to give or lend. That day Captain. Sullins, of the 
1st Alabama, whose room was next to mine, died, 
after a week's illness, and Colonel Pierson's report 
of his administration on the island appeared in 
the Register. He said that, up to date, there had 
been over 6,000 prisoners on the island ; 149 had 
died, 3 been executed, 1 shot by sentinel, over 300 
released on bond, oath and parole, and there were 
then remaining 2,612. That day, for the first 
time, a four mule team came into prison, and 
everybody ran out to see it. 

It was about the day aforementioned that we 
had a grand snow ball battle, like real war. Maj.- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 195 

Gen. Trimble commanded the Conservatives, and 
Brig.-Gen. M, Jeff. Thompson was in command of 
the Radicals, " so-called." Gen, Thompson was 
captured, but subsequently exchanged. Captain 
Youngblood, a Dutchman of singular and rare 
genius, was Thompson's chief signal officer ; his 
spy-glass was made of two bottles tied together, 
and he tore off his shirt tail for a signal flag, and 
while he was signaling the positions and move- 
ments of the enemy he took special pains to always 
keep himself in a safe locality. The adversaries 
pitched in manfully, nor was it altogether sham- 
like, for many a fellow came out of the rencounter 
skinned, bruised or lamed. 

Col. Lewis preached the succeeding Sabbath, 
and the audience was so large that many had to 
leave for want of room. That morning's mail 
brought me $2.00 worth of postage stamps, a scarce 
and precious article just then, from Jas. A. Mc- 
Brayer, who had been 'way down in Dixie, and 
knew how to sympathize with a fellow in durance 
vile, far away from home. As usual for Sun- 
day evening, there came extravagant rumors, or 
"grape," as we termed it, that Gen. Longstreet 
was going to surrender, and that Mr. Beast Butler 
would have us all out in a month. Nobody knew 
the source of the report, but hundreds of credulous 
fellows felt good over it. It was ever the case that 



196 CAMP, FIELD AXD PEISOTT LIFE. 

we had most news when there was least means of 
obtaining it. 

On the 24th of Jannary I resumed the study of 
French, which I had been pursuing for several 
months previous to Christmas. Colonel Smith, of 
Tennessee, Lieut. Tobey, of Arkansas, and several 
others, were in a class with me, and Major Mit- 
chell, of South Carolina, a highly accomplished 
Southern gentleman, who had been educated in 
Europe, was our preceptor. All parties took a 
deep interest in the study, and we recited once a 
day wherever we could find a fitting place. For 
some time after that I corresponded with Rev. 
Father Lavialle, President of St. Mary's College 
in Kentucky, who wrote me letters in French for 
my instruction and improvement. 

Judge Breare, Lieutenant of an Alabama regi- 
ment, was elected chief of our mess on the 20 th 
January. He made an interesting, witty, little 
speech, assumed the oflGlcial robe, and waded into 
active duty. " Chief of Mess " is one of those 
offices full of labor and responsibility, with no 
pay and but little thanks, but Breare was emi- 
nently " the right man in the right place," enjoyed 
his authority, and gave satisfaction. For some 
time we had been suffering from scarcity of water, 
but now an arrangement was made, leaving the 
big gate leading to the lake open four hours each 
day, and we could get plenty of crystal ice water. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOK LIFE. 197 

Mr. Johnson, owner of the island, was now our 
sutler, and I heard but few fellows bless him, 
except with execrations. He had gone to the 
expense of getting a lithographic view of the 
prison, Sandusky and vicinity, expecting that it 
would take like hot cakes among the prisoners. 
But his judgment was faulty, for but few of them 
wanted to see the place longer than was absolutely 
necessary ; besides, $3 was an exhorbitant price. 
It was reported that he refused to sell goods to 
any one unless they bought a picture, and the 
boys all resolved to buy nothing, and, whenever 
his clerks came in, a yell would go up all over the 
prison, " Here's your picturs." He soon found it 
would not pay to treat us otherwise than as honor 
and honesty demanded. 

The 29th day of January was beautiful over- 
head but terribly sloppy under foot, and our bridge 
over to the city was becoming monstrous treach- 
erous. The telegraph that day said that Long- 
street had flaxed the Feds, out at Dandridge, Ten- 
nessee, and that Knoxville was alarmed. At night 
some naughty rebels broke into the sutler's store 
and bought some things when he was not there ; 
supposed to be in retaliation for high prices and 
meanness. 

My diary says that on the last day of January 
a heavy Dixie mail came in, and of course every- 



198 CAMP, FIELD AND PKISON" LIFE. 

body was expecting a missive from the dear ones 
in tlie Southland. Alas ! too many were bitterly 
disappointed ; but some got cheering news from 
home, and others heard that poverty, sickness, 
and even death was reigning amongst the loved 
ones, and still they had to remain in prison and 
suffer the mental agonies consequent to such news. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PKISON LIFE. 199 



CHAPTER IX. 



Washington County Jan., 
Jicly 4, 1865. 



} 



To-day, while so many thousands of the Ameri- 
can people are celebrating and enjoying the annual 
return of Independence Day, here am I, a victim 
to the unjust hatred and unchristian prejudices of 
a victorious foe. Were I as unreasonable as they, 
I might invoke temporal troubles and Divine v^rath 
upon their heads ; but rather w^ill I ask our Heav- 
enly Father to soften their hearts and enlighten 
their minds to a sense of propriety and justice. 
To-day is a great jubilee in Jonesboro ; most all 
the men, women and children for ten miles around 
are in town, bells are ringing, processions are 
marching, cannons are firing, orators of the day 
are making spread-eagle speeches, and picnic 
dinners are spread all around. Everybody para- 
ding the streets, without reference to age, sex or 
color, has a little Union flag pinned somewhere, 
to denote super-loyalty. I can see much that is 
going on from my little, grated window. 



200 OAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

The former secesli generally keep close in tlieir 
quarters, for, even if they received no direct insult 
or injury, no welcome would be extended to them. 
I, too, expected to have been enjoying this festive 
occasion with friends at home — no Union, no rebel, 
but all united in fraternal bonds of sympathy and 
interest, in forgetfulness of the unhappy i:)ast, all 
hearts glad and all tongues rejoicing that peace 
was come. But fate has decreed that still more 
trials must I undergo, and yet longer must I remain 
from the dearest i)lace on earth. 'Tis not pleasant, 
but I will try to muster up courage to face it all 
with resignation, and content myself with the 
hope and prospect of a better day coming. The 
4tli day of July, 1863 and 1864, were spent in 
prison, and there is a saying, " the third time is 
the charm." AVe will see. 

The month of February opened rather inauspi- 
ciously ; there was much wind and rain, and large 
masses of floating ice were driven from the bay 
into the open lake. On the 1st day of tlie month 
the beef issued to us was so poor and mean that 
most of it was thrown out into the street, and we 
had fast day, nolens nolens. It was on the 3d 
of the month that Major Scoville, who had been 
absent for a week at his home in Cleveland, Ohio, 
re-appeared in the prison yard; everybody had 
some business with him, and it was a notorious 
fact that he promised to fulfill almost ever}^ request 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 201 

that was made. He would take a minute of a 
fellow's name and wants, and leave him in a state 
of mixed bliss and suspense, for sometimes the 
articles would come and then again they wouldn't, 
in which latter case Mr. Scoville would get numer- 
ous irreligious blessings. For myself, I can say 
that he never failed to grant the many favors I 
asked for in the course of almost two years. 

We had much war news on the 5th day of Feb- 
ruary, and among other things came an order from 
Mr. Lincoln for a draft of 500,000 men on the 10th 
of March, and those who know the state of the 
public mind at that time can well imagine with 
how little favor the mass received it. 

Just a few days previous Hon. Jas. B. Clay, one 
of Kentucky's most gifted and honored sons, died 
at Montreal, Canada. Upon his shoulders had 
fallen the mantle of one of that trio of America's 
greatest statesmen. He loved the old Constitution 
and all pertaining thereto, and he left this world 
in sorrow because it was being dishonored and 
trampled under foot. 

It was upon the date above mentioned that the 
" Little Eastern " came over from Sandusky for 
the first time in the new year, and it was at the 
same time that General Terry came into the yard 
and scourged the sutler about the picture business 
and other improprieties. And on that day a 
Choctaw Indian, captain in the Confederate ser- 



202 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

vice, died in tlie hospital, and was buried by tlie 
Masons in a metallic case. They put a nicely 
painted head and foot board at his grave, with 
his name, rank, Masonic emblems and wild 
scenery carved thereon. 

The next day we had snow and mud, and got 
but very little wood, but, to cast a pleasing shade 
over the gloomy aspect, an immense pile of express 
came in. Dr. Foster (?) a Yankee of small caliber 
but wonderful pretensions, had a rich time confis- 
cating liquors and other forbidden things, but still 
much contraband slipped in. 

Captain Lister, of our mess, played sharp on 
the Yankees, in this wise : He had sent out to the 
post commandant, for approval, a permit to re- 
ceive certain articles of clothing from a lady friend 
in Kentucky. In the body of the permit he left 
a small blank place. It came back approved, and 
he inserted, "• one pair boots," and sent it on the 
way rejoicing. It will be remembered that boots 
had been pronounced contraband, but the permit 
was approved, and he got them. Before long the 
fellows from down East detected the modus op- 
erandi., and after that filled up all the open spaces 
with red ink lines. 

On the 8th our grapevine telegraph was in fine 
working order, and there were many pleasant sto- 
ries afloat about our emigrating, and, sure enough, 
next da}^, 400 rebels did leave for somewTiere, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOlSr LIFE. 203 

Lieutenants Bouldin and Allen, of my company, 
among the number. Of course, there was great 
excitement in all quarters, and some of the fel- 
lows leaving put on several suits, fearing that 
otherwise their property might be confiscated. 
Some others were left in a peculiar predicament, 
for, expecting to leave, they gave away their sur- 
plus clothing, and then had to stay. The prison 
pen was perceptibly thinned out, and for several 
days there was a gloom over everything. That 
day I visited Captain Hodge and Lieutenant Tay- 
lor, of my regiment, who were sick in the hospi- 
tal, Captain Hodge being painfully afflicted with 
inflammatory rheumatism. 

The 12th Ohio cavalry bid adieu to our island 
home on the 10th, and the Sandusky Register was 
kept out — news contraband. That day the most 
prominent and ardent Southern rights men in our 
prison convened and organized a society, known 
as the " Southern League," intended to strengthen 
and make more lasting the bonds between Con- 
federate soldiers. It flourished for several weeks, 
then died a natural death. 

The next day's news from the front was that 
there had been fighting on the Rapidan, the se- 
cesh getting the best of it, and Longstreet seemed 
to be flourishing. A Federal officer issued some 
clothing to our mess, most of it being captured 
goods of an inferior quality. Colonel B. Howard 



204 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOX LIFE. 

Smith, of the 5th Kentucky cavalry, was paroled 
— a rare instance — and Lieutenant Alexander, of 
the 62d Tennessee — I am sorry to record it — took 
the oath of allegiance, and departed from the at- 
mosphere that was tainted with secessionism. 

My diary for the 13th says that mountains of 
ice were stretching along the horizon out in the 
lake beyond the breakwater. I have before 
spoken of the blockade in the lake, close to our 
prison home, and will here explain what it is. 
All who are familiar with American history have 
a knowledge of the naval contiicts on the lakes 
between the United States and Canada. Who 
has not heard of " Perry's victory " on Lake Erie ? 
Sandusky Bay is nearly the shape of a horse 
shoe, and, by the way, Johnson's Island, which 
is about the center of the bay, is similarly shaped. 
The bay is a safe and commodious harbor, and 
there Commodore Perry rendezvoused his naval 
fleet. Across the opening of the horse shoe he 
made a blockade, by sinking stones and logs, un- 
til it reached, in many places, the surface of the 
water. An opening just wide enough for ships to 
pass through was left at one end, and guarded by 
a strong battery. A similar battery was there 
during our stay on Johnson's Island, so our 
friends down South, who wondered why friendly 
crafts did not come to our rescue from Canada, 
can see that we were in the stable, the door locked 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 205 

and the keyliole guarded, More than fifty years 
have rolled round since that blockade was con- 
structed, and to-day it is plainly visible. 

The 15th was a beautiful, spring-like day, the 
ice was leaving the bay, and the boat came over 
from the city, bringing lots of express, and among 
it was a box of books for me, from Frankfort, 
Kentucky, sent through the kindness of my friend 
Marvin Averill. Among the books were a ISTew 
Testament in French, Life of Stonewall Jackson, 
Southern History, Life in the Old World, and In- 
tellectual Development of Europe. There was a 
sudden change the next day ; it was bitter cold, 
our communication with the city was blocked, no 
mails, high winds, my health splendid and appe- 
tite keen. 

Two ladies, from Kentucky, came on the 18th, 
with a permit from the Secretary of War to see 
their brother, who was sick in prison ; and a 
woman had become so uncommon a sight inside 
our walls that the boys rushed out by hundreds 
to see them, and truly they looked so good and 
sweet we could not help loving them. 

I received, per express, on the 19th of February, 
a photograph album, instead of an autograph 
album which I had ordered, and my note book 
said, " I am negotiating for rings for some friends 
at home and in Dixie." Ring making proved to 
be a lucrative vocation, for many an ingenious 



206 CAMP, FIELD AND rRTSON LIFE. 

fellow made from 81.00 to 83.00 per clay. About 
that date we heard that the prisoners sent off a 
few daj^s before had arrived at Point Lookout, 
several having made their escape. And now the 
bay was frozen over and sleighs were crossing. 

On the 20th I made a wholesale purchase of 
rings, to send by mail to friends in various quar- 
ters. Just then rings and autographs were all the 
go, and nearly every lady in the Northern land, 
whether loyal or secesli, had a ring of prison 
make, and for a month a stream of autograph 
albums were going the rounds of the prison for 
signatures. I had the fever, too, and got some 
600 names, with rank, command, and address. 
And quite a number of Federal officers and sol- 
diers were getting the autographs of their rebel 
acquaintances. That day a Confederate captain 
disgraced himself by taking the oath, and was 
farther degraded by being driven from prison by 
his comrades after night. The next day Brigadier 
General Slialer, who was now in command of the 
post, issued an order, promising protection to all 
such, and threatening offenders with punishment, 
but the boys laughed at the idea, since "it is 
necessary to catch a dog before you hang him." 

The succeeding night I sat up at the hospital 
with sick friends, not closing my eyes during the 
whole night. There were some very sick men in 
the ward where I stayed, suffering from a variety 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOISr LIFE. 207 

of diseases,- sucli as prison fever, rlieumatism, 
chronic diarrhea, diphtlieria, and abscesses from 
old wounds. 

How the 22d was passed in prison may be gath- 
ered from the following, which I transcribe 7)er- 
hatim from my diary. 

" Washington's birthday — brass band playing 
Yankee Doodle and Hail Columbia — rebel band 
(violins) play Bonnie Blue Flag and Dixie — Yan- 
kees make speeches under the old flag, and swear 
anew their allegiance to the same — rebel orators, 
Colonel Lewis and Captain F<^llows, vow to live 
and die for Dixie — the mass approve, and shout 
loudly — Yankee chaplain listening to the rebel 
speeches, but gets disgusted, and officer of the 
day disperses the Confederates." 

Another memorable event of that day was that 
I went on detail as cook, after having been off of 
that kind of duty for four months. I found wash- 
ing the dishes to be the most bitter pill, but per- 
severed, and all came to be easy enough. 

My memorandum for the succeeding day reads, 
"Mild as full-blown spring — Captain Thomas 
Burgess Brantly catches, kills, skins, fries and 
eats a rat, and I get a hind leg to pick — excellent, 
tastes like squirrel. No less than twelve men 
breakfast on a rat, not from necessity, but curi- 
osity. Lieutenant Colonel Lyle, of 46tli Ala- 
bama, dons blue clothes and walks out with squad 



208 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

of Federal officers going fi;om roll-call, is recog- 
nized at the edge of the ice and brought, back. 
So goes prison life." 

The next day was delightful, and the birds wei-e 
singing everywhere. At night two prisoners tried 
to scale the wall in rear of block 4 — both caught 
— one got over, but soon found himself in the cal- 
aboose. For some days previous a revival had 
been going on in the dining-room of mess 1, block 
4, and quite a number went np to be prayed for. 

Several days of bright, warm weather having 
put the prison yard in nice order, continuous 
streams of Confederates could now be seen prom- 
enading from morning till night, xind General 
Shaler had an order read before all the messes, 
saying : " Sentinels are positively ordered to fire 
on all prisoners trying to escape." The idea was 
so juvenile that the boys could not help laughing 
at it, for they thought that was the understanding 
all the time. About that time General Polk was 
falling back before Sherman at Meridian, Missis- 
sippi, the Army of the Potomac was quiet, and 
no extensive cavalry raids were going on in any • 
quarter. 

It was on the night of the 26th that I visited a 
room occupied by Arkansians, or " cane biters," 
as we politely termed them. I went to hear some 
music, and, out of the ten Arkansaw travelers 
present, seven were fiddlers, and the whole lump 



GAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 209 

being jolly fellows, we did have a gay and festive 
time. Dr. Brantley, who ate the rat, was the 
trump of the whole pack. The next night I 
attended a revival in our mess room, and saw 
great religious enthusiasm manifested. Lieuts. 
Crouch, Gibson, Lee and McGill, of our mess, were 
converted. I watched the subsequent course of 
many of those who professed a change of heart, 
and in most instances tkey seemed to walk more 
circumspectly before men, and gave evident signs 
of more reverence for their God. 

A glance at my diary shows that March opened 
with bright auspices for Southern arms. The 
Northern press reported a brilliant success for the 
Confederates at Lake City, Florida, and General 
Forrest had driven General Smith back to Mem- 
phis with heavy loss. On the 3d the Federal 
chaplain brought in for distribution religious 
books, papers and tracts, requesting the boys to 
read them and form their opinions at will. Some 
refused even to listen to the Abolition sentiments 
in them ; otliers were more reasonable, and glad 
to get them for what good there was in them. 

Complaints about short rations were now going 
up from all over the prison. A Federal officer 
came in and weighed some loaves of bread, find- 
ing them deficient, which deficiency, of course, 
went into the pockets of- the post commissary. 

The bread wagoner was caught selling the precious 
14 



210 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

loaves, and the tricky secesli were constantly try- 
ing to steal bread from the wagon while on its 
round of delivery; in fact, there was a perfect 
bread mania. 

My diary for March 5tli reads : " In prison nine 
months to-day ; weather like Southern spring time. 
I have written home for clothing and ]3rovender. 
My mamma writes to me about love matters ; I 
am promised the type of* an old sweetheart, now 
married ; small-pox in the home-land ; rations 
getting better ; potatoes issued ; new cups, knives 
and forks furnished ; boys sending out rings and 
autograph albums by express; sudden and ex- 
citing reports of exchange." 

After that I have no record till the 9th, when 
there were signs of spring-time everywhere. The 
ice was all gone, and our pumps in running order 
again. A ventilator had been put on the top of 
the hospital, and the post chaplain was coming 
into tbe prison more frequently than usual, seem- 
ing to be more Interested in the welfare of his 
secesh brethren. That day a rebel broke a lamp 
over Mr. Sutler's head because he sold it to him 
and then refused to sell him oil. The officer of 
the day hunted " the man who struck Billy Pat- 
terson," but, of course, nobod}^ knew who it was. 
Maj. Scoville visited our room and laughed heartily 
over the matter. 

The papers of the 10th said General Grant was 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON" LIFE. 211 

made Lieut.-General, that 700 prisoners were ex- 
changed, and that the rebels had pnt Kilj)atrick's 
men in irons for retaliation. On the ICth Lieut. 
Clark, of the 55tli Georgia, moved into our room. 
Rations were now getting better, loaves of bread 
larger, and constant improvement was going on 
in the prison yard. A raised gravel walk was 
being made through the center of the yard and in 
rear of the buildings. Two four-horse teams were 
kept busy hauling wood, one removing sloj)S and 
filth, and another was constantly hauling in ra- 
tions. The 13th was a rainy, sleeting, snowy, 
gloomy Sabbath day. The next day I got the 
first number of the Louisville Daily Journal^ 
which a friend sent me for one month, and there 
were many reports concerning exchange, and the 
privileges of the sutler being enlarged. Just now 
there was a great rage among the Yankee women 
for rings made by rebel officers, and they were 
going off like hot cakes at from 50 cents to $2.00 
in greenbacks. 

Just about that date, one morning as a starchy 
Federal officer was going out from roll-call, some 
fellow popped him in the back with a snow ball, 
by which heinous misdemeanor he was grievously 
offended, and proposed to have the cells at the 
guard house chock full of rebels if the chap was 
not brought to light, but he gradually cooled off, 
and then didn't feel so bad. 



212 CAMP, riELD AXD PRISON LIFE. 

On tlie 16tli a new sntler came into tlie prison, 
with permission from the Secretary of "War to sell 
anything to eat on snrgeon's recommendation, 
and it was no difficult matter to get sick, so as to 
require some of the sutler's stuff A few days 
previous I had sent out for examination and ap- 
proval my journal of prison life, desiring to send 
it to my mother, and tliat moniing Lieut. Williams, 
United States army, informed me that Gen. Shaler 
was reading it. It may be that it let him into 
some of our ways and thoughts until then not 
known, but I was not aiming or desiring to do 
anything prejudicial to the interest of those around 
me. 

I visited the hospital on the 18th, and found a 
good old captain praying and singiiig in the vari- 
ous wards ; sickness was on the decline, erj^sipelas 
dying out, no small-pox, chronic diarrhcEa being 
most fatal. And T noticed a little house just 
erected in rear of the hospital, in which to lay 
out the dead. The succeeding day Col. Printup, 
of my room, got a splendid box of eatables from 
some lady friends in Richmond, Kentucky, and it 
made all our hearts glad, for we shared everything 
in common in our room. 

Here I will insert a little scrap going to show 
that one never lo«es anything by treating his 
enemy kindly. After Richmond, Kentucky, was 
captured by Kirby Smith, in 1862, and the army 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOISr LIFE. 213 

was moved on to Lexington, Colonel Printnp, with 
the 55th Georgia, was left in command of the posl 
at Richmond. He treated the Federal prisoners 
there very kindly, and would not allow his sol- 
diers to disturb the citizens, but extended protec- 
tion to the loyal and disloyal alike, and everything 
was smooth and harmonious. Time went on, our 
army retreated from Kentucky, and in September, 
18G3, Printup and his regiment were captured with 
Brig.- General Frazier at Cumberland Gap. The 
officers were sent to Johnson's Island, and Colonel 
P. brought with him a letter signed by several 
prominent Federal officers and loyal citizens, 
recommending him for parole or the kindest treat- 
ment possible. As I have before said, my room 
was one of the most comfortable in prison, of 
which fact Major Scoville, prison superintendent, 
was aware, so he came to us and asked us if we 
would take Colonel Printup into our room, telling 
us why he took a special interest in his welfare. 
"We thought that an officer who had manliness 
enough to treat his enemy kindly when a prisoner 
'would do to risk, nor had we afterward cause to 
be sorry. 

My memorandum says March 21st was cold, the 
bay frozen over, and we got no mail, but lots of 
grapevine telegrams. My week as cook expired, 
and Lieut. Clark was inaugurated. The next 
day I got a pair of shoes from " Gen^ Frank 



214 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOlSr LIFE. 



Berger, and my note book says that I tried to steal 
a pair of pants from him, but failed. I had a 
chat with one of the veteran soldiers who was at 
work in the yard ; he said bounty would not bait 
him any longer, that he was going home in a few 
weeks. Our chief cook fixed us up a delicious 
bread pudding for dinner, and a burlesque picture 
on the bulletin board attracted a large crowd, 
though it was cold as blazes. 

On the 23d General Shaler sent back m}^ journal 
of prison life, saying I could not send it off, for it 
was too rank with treason^ but the fact is that by 
perseverance I did manage to ship it to my mother 
after a while. That day I received a letter inform- 
ing me of the resignation of my Colonel, J. H. 
Crawford, and that my first Lieutenant, T. T. 
Bonldin, had left Point Lookout for Dixie-land. 
The next day was beautiful and delightful, and in 
the afternoon a host of Yankee Lieutenants and 
Sergeants came in to muster all the rebels, taking 
full name and rank of each, for what reason we 
could not tell, but hoping it was looking toward 
exchange. 

An impudent, disloyal fellow assumed loyal 
garb and walked out with said officers, but was 
taken up like a stray calf, and turned back into 
the pen, minus his shoulder straps. Nobody ever 
knew how so much Federal attire found its way 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 215 

into prison, but I believe tlie motto up North is, 
" money makes the mare go." 

The Yankee carpenters were at that time build- 
ing an addition to the hospital for the accommo- 
dation of the surgeons and cooks. General Grant 
had just taken command in the East, and gold 
was rating at 169. On the 26tli a steamer came 
from the open lake and plowed its way through 
the slush ice up to Sandusky City, and the same 
day the " Little Eastern " made its way to the 
island. On the next day, which was Sunday, 
eleven Confederate officers were baptized in Lake 
Erie, a large crowd of ladies and Federal officers 
being out to witness the novel sight. 

The following day was a glorious one in our 
prison life. Sutler Terry, brother of the General, 
opened a large stock of goods in the prison, and 
the crowd, jam and squeeze to get to buy ex- 
ceeded most anything I ever saw. He sold out 
half of his stock the first day, realizing over 
12,000. Though rather contraband, he had plenty 
of good brandy, at $5.00 per quart, and many a 
Southern gentleman got " how come you so." 
One fast mess paid $60 for a case of champagne, 
and felt richer after than before spending their 
money. 

It was the day after that I got, rather unex- 
pectedly, from home, a box of clothing and eat- 
ables, and Captain Broughton, of my mess, also 



216 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

received a box of good things to eat from a lady 
friend at Russellville, Kentucky. She only knew 
him through a friend of her's, who formed his ac- 
quaintance at Hopkinsville, Kentucky, while the 
7th Texas was stationed there, in the fall of 1861. 
The good ladies of Kentucky are loved and 
blessed by many a poor, unfortunate rebel sol- 
dier that they never saw or knew, except by the 
story of their privations and sufferings. 



OAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 217 



CHAPTER X. 



Ark of Safety, Jonesboro, East Tenn.^ \ 
July 6, 18G5. ' J 

On the 1st day of April General Heintzelman 
visited our island, and many little sail-boats were 
beginning to appear on the lake. For some cause 
no sutler had been in the prison for several days, 
but it did not matter much, for a half dozen sub- 
sutler shops, kept by rebels, were open, and there 
was a great rivalry among them for the trade. 
Captain Wood, of Tennessee, had one open in our 
block, and advertised to sell anything on com- 
mission. 

Nothing short of an actual sight of the thing 
would give a just idea of how nearly our prison 
was like a diminutive city — not town — for there 
you never see that variety of petty speculations 
and engagements. 

We did not forget that it was April Fool's day, 
and many good jokes and sells were got off by 
the Confederate fraternity. I made a sawdust 
pie and presented it to Major Stuart of Arkansas, 



218 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOlSr LIFE. 

for trimming my hair. His appetite was sharp as 
a razor, and his month watered, till he waded 
throngh the tongh crust into the sawdust ; then 
his feathers fell. The boys plagued him about it 
for a month, and he was constantly trying to get 
the turn on me, but I was always on the lookout, 
and he failed. 

During the early part of the month the air was 
balmy, and the lake smooth as a mirror. There 
was a dancing school going on at Block 13, and, 
to vary the programme, one fellow stuck a knife 
into another. The papers reported that Colonel 
Ould, Confederate Commissioner of Exchange, 
had gone to Fortress Monroe in our behalf. On 
the 4th Colonel Gregg and Captain Hodge, of my 
regiment, took dinner with us, and " we put the 
big pot in the little one," and had something 
extra. My note book says, " On the 6th there 
were bright prospects for exchange, and the rebels 
were all jubilant." Yes, and a hundred other 
times did the prospects brighten, but only to glim- 
mer and fade again. 

And now here comes some fresh " means of live- 
lihood." A shifty Southerner bought a pair of 
scales and erected a weighing machine, and would 
tell any fellow his hog weight for a three cent 
postage stamp — I brought down 160 pounds at 
that date — and about the same time another insti- 
tution was opened for the purpose of making a 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOISr LIFE 219 

speck of change. Lieutenant McLouglilin, of 
Alabama, set up an oyster saloon in mess No. 1 
of our block, and for awhile drove a thriving 
trade. From my memorandum it seems that I 
was a little indisposed about that time, which 
was something unusual, for I enjoyed excellent 
health most all the while. 

The 8th day of April had been appointed by 
President Davis as a day of fast and prayer, and 
we observed it with due solemnity. The Confed- 
erates most all dressed up, and we had preaching. 
As to fasting, the majority approximated to it 
every day. I had now received no letters for a 
whole week, when one came from Miss J. G. B., 
full of good cheer and encouragement, and asking 
for a history and description of " Asa Hartz " ; 
nor was she the only one that made inquiries 
about " Asa." His real name is George McKnight, 
and he was a major on the staff of General Loring. 
By his wit, poetry and fascinating letters he had 
got half the damsels in the country crazy about 
him. One of his poetic effusions, " My love and 
I," contrasting their situations in humorous and 
witty terms, went the rounds of the whole North- 
ern press, and he received clothing and eatables 
from all quarters in profusion. The truth is he had 
most reputation where he was least known. " We 
'uns" didn't lay much stress either on the man 



220 CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISOX LIFE. 

or liis poetry. Truly did distance give enchant- 
ment. 

April lltli two ladies from Kentucky came into 
prison to see a sick friend, and, as was the case 
every time a lady appeared inside the walls, it 
created much interest and excitement. The same 
day several Northern ladies were on the parapet 
taking a view of rebeldom. They didn't portray 
much sympathy for ns, and we reciprocated the 
compliment in like coin. 

The next day two " galvanized rebels " were or- 
dered to leave the prison because they were in 
the wrong pen, having satisfied us that they w^ere 
abolitionists at heart. They received no sym- 
pathy or countenance from any honest rebel, and 
so disagreeable did their situation become that 
they made application to be put in the cells with 
the condemned prisoners, which was granted. 
Ours was a genuine Southern institution. 

The succeeding day I got a letter from my 
brother at Camp Morton, saying our mother had 
been to see him, but was denied the privilege, 
only being allowed to write a note. She took him 
clothing and provisions, all of which they prom- 
ised to deliver promptly, but some of the articles, 
including all of the delicacies, he never got. 
That day General Terry was in to inspect the 
prison, and the inmates were curious to know his 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 221 

ideas about exchange, which proved to be not 
very flattering. 

At that time the news from Washington repre- 
sented warm times in the Federal Congress. Mr, 
Colfax moved to expel Mr. Long, of Ohio, and 
epithets of traitor and liar were freely used. 
Right or wrong, the Confederate nation glorified 
in seeing tlie strife of words and feeling among 
them. Gold had gone up to 172. 

On the 14th of AiDril about forty Confederate 
officers, from the Trans-Mississippi Department, 
were brought in, most of them having been cap- 
tured at home, which was anything but a recom- 
mendation among the mass of the prisoners who 
were captured on the battle-field. The same day 
two regiments of the veteran troops left for the 
front, and subsequently suffered terribly in 
Grant's May campaign. 

At three o'clock p. m. of the same day the 
" rebellonians " gave a performance at Block 9, 
said " rebellonians " being a minstrel concert 
troupe not to be grinned at. They had displayed 
much talent and enterprise in getting up so credit- 
able an entertainment under so many adverse 
circumstances. The house was crowded, the music 
was splendid, and the theatrical scenery and act- 
ing, though somewhat rustic, gave evident signs 
of genius. The price of admission was 25 cents, 
reserved seats 50 cents. Several Federal officers 



222 CAMP, fip:ld axd prison life. 

were present, and seemed to enjoy the jokes and 
burlesques got off on tlie Yankee nation. I after- 
ward attended the theater at Richmond, Virginia, 
and yet think the " rebellonians " excelled them 
in interest. 

What might now seem a very trivial matter, 
"but then merited noting down, was that on the 
16th of April we had corn bread for dinner, it 
being the first we had tasted for six months. And 
still there were exciting debates in the Federal 
Congress, and gold was fluctuating between 176 
and 180. Just then there was a howl going through 
the Northern press, calling for retaliation for the 
killing of so many colored troops by General For- 
rest's men at Fort Pillow, The matter was grossly 
exaggerated everj^where, and the real facts in the 
case never told. General Forrest felt himself jus- 
tified, and right-minded people to-day, who know 
the circumstances, do not condemn him. 

My memorandum book says April 18th was a 
beautiful, life-giving day, and that I got a sweet 
letter from my mother and one from a good lady 
friend in Missouri. The next day was one of grand 
excitement on Johnson's Island. There came an 
order from the Secretary of War to remove all the 
sick and wounded prisoners to Point Lookout. 
In the shortest possible time there were a thousand 
before unheard of ailings, and in many cases the 
diseases were so deep-seated that the surgeon 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 223 

could not find them. The armless and legless 
were jubilant for once. 

Dr. Woodbridge, United States army, was very' 
kind, and did all he could for the sick, and every- 
body liked him. The next day 175 sick and 
wounded did leave for exchange, and we who had 
to remain were truly glad to see the poor fellows 
oflT. My room mate. Captain Broughton, and five 
others from my mess, went. Many letters were 
smuggled through in hat crowns, coat linings, boot 
soles, and every other fashion. Several loads of 
straw for our beds came in that day, and I noticed 
the inmates of Block 1 placing nice sod around 
their quarters. 

April 24tli we received the largest Dixie mail 
that had ever come to the prison. Up to that time 
I had gotten no letters from the South, though I 
wrote many, and it was a general complaint that 
not one-fourth of the letters written in the South 
ever reached us. From noon till night of the next 
day the winds howled and the lake surged so that 
no bark could ride its bosom. The scene was 
wild, rugged, magnificent, exceeding in grand 
beauty anything the artist could paint. 

That very same day Plymouth, North Carolina, 
with a garrison of 2,500 troops, was captured by 
some gentlemen of disloyal persuasion, and gold 
closed in New York at 184 About a dozen pris- 
oners arrived, all laboring under the impression 



224 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

tliat tliey were on the way to Dixie, but, as soon 
as the poor fellows got into limbo, their eyes were 
open to the delnsion. The Federals told ns away 
back in the beginning of Jnne, 1863, that they 
would only keep us a couple of months, but they 
forgot and added nineteen thereto. In that squad 
of prisoners was a Copperhead youth who was 
sentenced to confinement there for expressing 
Southern sympathies at a Northern college. 

And now the tocsin of war, which had been 
almost slumbering, began to sound again. Grant 
was preparing for war on a momentous scale, and 
Lee was arranging matters to checkmate him. 
All the regular troops were being sent to the front, 
and the garrisons filled with militia. Governor 
Brougli, of Ohio, had just called out the militia 
for one hundred days' active service. And just 
then news came from the far South to the etfect 
that Mr, General Banks, whom the Confederates 
regarded as their Commissary General, was in a 
bad fix, his army whipped, and his gunboats and 
transports aground in Red river. About the last 
of April some reckless, thoughtless or mean pris- 
oner tried to set fire to the eating room of mess 1, 
block 4, but fortunately the fire was discovered 
and extinguished. 

The 1st day of May was pleasant and warm, 
the 2d it rained and snowed, and the 8d I received 
four letters, one being from my grandmother, and 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON" LIFE. 225 

one Avritten in French from Fatlier Lavialle, of St. 
Mary's College. 

The next day was one that kept ns secesh full 
of life and fun, though to the outer world it might 
seem that it was calculated to depress us. A host 
of " National Guards," citizen soldiers and other 
gentry, of every age, size and appearance, visited 
the island to get a peep at the com]30und esse-nce 
of the rebellion. Perhaps fifty of them were on 
the parapet at one time, curiously inspecting the 
appearance of things on the inside. The fellows 
yelled at them in all manner of ridiculous styles, 
actually making them ashamed of themselves. 

Maybe a rough looking old customer, with a 
tall hat on, would make his appearance, and in- 
stantly a hundred stentorian voices would ring 
out, " Come down out of that, old man ; I know 
you are in there, we see your legs working ;" then 
somebody would chime in, "Bring home my 
churn," or, " I want my stove pipe," and very soon 
some other would sing out, " What are you doing 
with my camp kettle," or, " Send me my tar 
bucket." If a fellow of uncommon size or appear- 
ance came up, in a little while a dozen rebels 
would be 'spying him through stove pipe joints, 
black bottles, or other contrivances, and they 
would motion for him to advance or recede, or 
move to the right or left, so as to get him at the 

proper focal point. These and many other means 
15 



226 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISOiN" LIFE. 

of annoyance were resorted to, and seldom did 
the loyal folks fail to make a speedy exit. When 
ladies came we went out to look at them, bnt tried 
to be more respectful in our manoeuvers. 

About that time the rebel General Marmaduke 
captured 1,000 prisoners from General Steele in 
Arkansas, and several different tunnels were under 
headway in various parts of the prison. The 
Feds, had been smelling a mice for several days, 
and concluded to dig a deep ditch all around the 
inside of the prison wall, which they did, seriously 
interfering v/ith the programme of those having a 
finger in the tunnel pie. It was just about then 
that several soldiers of the garrison got drunk and 
were put under arrest. The discipline was very 
rigid, and I never saw the same number of men 
better trained to duty and obedience. 

On the 6th of May I jotted down in my diary: 
"The armies are all moving; Meade has issued 
an address to encourage his soldiers, and already 
it is breathed that there has been a dreadful con- 
flict of arms; 'tis a vital hour, and there is no 
talk of anything • else in prison. Most all the 
Confederates express confidence in the issue ; 
some feel it, some do not. I hope, but fear." 

The 8th of May w^e had a thunder shower, and 
all the trees budded out. That morning Lieut. 
Williams, of the United States army, who had 
been calling our roll for some time, and whom we 



CAMP, FIELD ATs^D PEISOX LIFE. 227 

all liked for his kindness, came in to bid us adieu 
before leaving for the front. We gave him a let- 
ter of recommendation for good treatment in case 
he should be captured, and promised to recipro- 
cate his kind deeds if we should ever have charge 
of him 'way down in the land of cotton. 

The same day Captain Day, of the. 55th Geor- 
gia, died, and that night the veterans, who were 
going to leave tor the front, had a torch-light 
procession, and their hearts seemed to beat time 
to the music of the fife and drum and brass band. 

At the self-same hour some rebels. Dr. Brantly 
& Co., were at the opposite side of the pen, trying 
to bribe a sentinel to let them over the fence ; he 
said he was willing but afraid. The Dr. Brantly 
mentioned is the same individual of whom I have 
before spoken under the cognomen of Captain 
Thos. B. Brantly. He once peddled bread pills 
for six weeks in Texas, claiming them as a catho- 
licon for every ill ; and, after he had humbugged 
the people to the tune of several thousand dollars, 
he left off and went to trading ponies with the 
Indians. The Doctor was superintendent of one 
of the tunnels mentioned a little ways back, and 
he had held some office in no less than five sub- 
terranean companies, all of which failed. At last 
he gave up in disgust, and said that if he could 
not get to take the oath (and go to Dixie) he would 
hold on awhile, which he did. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON" LIFE. 

From my sketch book I copy as follows : " May 
11 til cold, and heavy gale, breakers lashing the 
shores, and white-caps running high over the 
blockade ; great battle progressing in Virginia ; 
voluminous and conflicting telegrams; Confed- 
erates, as yet, equal to the task ; sixteen Yankee 
Generals Tiors du combat; General Shaler, who 
commanded at Johnson's Island last winter, a 
prisoner. Sundown — Great excitement all over 
the pen ; Grant reported in fall retreat, and For- 
rest said to have taken Decatur, Alabama, with 
4,000 prisoners ; Grierson killed." Some of the 
foregoing proved very true, and some not so 
much so. 

My diary for the 17th reads thus : "So foggy 
we can't see the lake — we had codfish for break- 
fast — rebels playing hob with Federal transports 
and gunboats — the armies of Steele and Banks 
nearly destroyed and demoralized — about 500 
wagons and ambulances taken from them. 'Tis 
one year ago to-day since I was caj^tured — the 
great fight in Virginia continues, without material 
success on either side — Longstreet wounded — 
Buckner commanding his corps — Breckinridge 
has threshed Siegel in Western Virginia, and gold 
is feverish at 176." 

We scoured our room on the 19th, and that day 
there was a general muster and inspection of the 
prison, and some New York papers published a 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOjST LIFE, 229 

bogus call for 300,000 more troops. The next day 
wt; (my room) bought a half barrel of shad, 
eighteen pounds of butter and ten dozen eggs, 
which helped our commissary department along 
most wonderfully. Corporal Berger made the 
purchase in Sandusky, by special permission of 
Major Scoville. That evening the sloop-of-war 
" Michigan " steamed proudly into Sandusky bay, 
and anchored just off pur island. She looked 
warlike, but as we were (under the circumstances) 
inclined to be peaceable, nobody was scared. 

About the 23d Grant and Lee were manoeu- 
vering before Spottsylvania Courthouse, Sher- 
man had advanced to Rome and Kingston, 
Georgia, and General J E. B. Stuart, Lee's great 
captain of cavalry, had just been killed in front of 
Richmond. Two days later Major Scoville was 
relieved from duty as prison" superintendent, and 
some prisoners came in from Johnston's army. 

On the 27th Lee and Grant had left Spottsyl- 
vania and were still making strategical moves, 
and Sherman and Johnston were likewise engaged 
in Georgia. The news from Mr, Banks' depart- 
ment got no better fast, and he was superseded 
by General Canby ; Nathaniel Hawthorne and 
Joshua R. Giddings had just passed away from 
earth. 

The last day of May there was a great commo- 
tion among the little Yankee nation on Johnson's 



230 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

Island. The previous night several Southern gen- 
tlemen had tried to scale the walls, and several 
tunnels w^ere discovered and nipped in the bud. 
It seems that the impression prevailed on the out- 
side that some rebels were on the wrong side of 
the prison wall, and the loyal forces hunted all 
over the island, skirmish fashion, but found no 
game. And there was a rigid inspection of all 
the blocks. Just after dinner they called us 
out into line, as if for inspection and muster ; then 
guards were placed between us and our quarters, 
and the corporals were ordered to make a close 
search of all the rooms and bring all the contra- 
band to light. The result in our block was, a 
wooden gun, that the boys had made to practice 
with (for we taught the military art clandestinely), 
several fruit cans fixed up for life-preservers, one 
pair of muddy pants, used in tunneling, and one 
ladder, supposed to have been intended as a step- 
ping-stone to Dixie. At otlier blocks the harvest 
was equally as rich and ludicrous. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 231 



CHAPTER XI. 



In Jail, "Washington County, Tennessee, \ 
July S, 1865. / 

On the first day of June, 1864, there came to 
my address the first number of the Courier des 
Eiats Uiiis, a French paper published in New- 
York, for which Lieut. Tobey, of Arkansas, and 
myself had subscribed, and in reading which we 
whiled away many happy hours together. Lieut. 
T. belonged to our French class, and was one of my 
warmest friends and most constant companions. 
Though he was born and reared in the State of 
Maine, he was as true as the truest to our cause, 
entertaining liberal and conservative views about 
all subjects. I did not then, nor do I now, think 
much more of the Southern radical "fire-eater"" 
than of the Northern radical republican ; both 
overdid the fair thing. 

The sutler's shop was moved out of the way 
preparatory to enlarging the prison yard, and 
Major Hall was announced as prison superinten- 
dent on the 2d, and several hundred Dixie fellows 



232 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISON" LIFE. 

were playing ball, and quite a number were 
amusing tliemselves at marbles. On tlie 4tli an 
order issued from headquarters was put upon the 
bulletin board, positively restricting the length of 
letters written or received to one page of ordinary 
letter paper. For some days after there were 
many catastrophes in the letter business, scores 
of them being suppressed because too long. 

And just then there was another rumpus be- 
tween the loyal and disloyal gentry on Mr. John- 
son's Island. Some of the latter attempted to 
make an underground railroad, beginning at a 
point under the center of the dead house in rear 
of the hospital. The affair was detected by Gen. 
Frank Berger, and there resulted a vexatious but 
fruitless search for the man that dug the hole in 
the ground and the instrument with which he 
dug it. 

Colonel Hill, post commandant, made an order 
on the 8th, holding messes responsible for any 
damage done to thejbuildings or tunnels dug from 
under their respective blocks, requiring the mem- 
bers of messes to inform against those who did 
either. " The penalty was to be the cutting off of 
rations. The prisoners en masse were indignant 
at the very idea of such a requirement, and no 
one thought for a moment of obeying. 

That day a terrible calamity befell us in the 
shape of an order from the War Department for- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 233 

"bidding any more coffee, sugar or candles to be 
issued to us : tlie act claimed to be in retaliation 
for the treatment of Federals in the South. For 
some days there was a legion of long faces over 
the matter, and some of the fellows thought they 
would surely starve and die, but I never knew of 
many deaths resulting therefrom. 

The next day a box of sundries came to the 
hospital from Mrs. Martha Lillard, of Anderson 
county, Kentucky ; its contents were from various 
kind ladies who sympathised with the suffering 
Confederates. Hardly a day passed but that 
some donation of clothing, delicacies, and other 
little things needed by the sick, came from some 
society of charitable, big-hearted ladies in Ken- 
tucky, Baltimore or elsewhere. 

The day following we got a large mail from the 
South, and at six o'clock in the evening a dozen 
prisoners came in from Johnson's army. From 
that time forward the arrival of prisoners was not 
an event of much note among us, after the excite- 
ment of looking for friends and inquiring about 
the state of things at the front. My notes of the 
11 til say that Morgan was at Lexington and 
Georgetown, Kentuck}^, playing smash. It is 
presumed that every one has read or heard of his 
artful and ingenious escape from the Ohio peni- 
tentiary, where I last spoke of him. 

The news of the 12th was that Grant and Slier- 

\ 



234 CAMP, FIELD AKD PRISON LIFE. 

man had come to a halt, Marmaduke had block- 
aded the Mississippi, and gold stood at 199. The 
intelligence the succeeding day was that General 
Morgan had captured General Hohson and 1,500 
men at Cynthiana, Kentucky, and that Frankfort 
had been put under martial law and the State 
papers moved to the fort. That day the loyal 
postmaster very unexpectedly sent in several 
confiscated letters, which was naturally calcu- 
lated to make us think more of him ; and* the 
Southern rights men were playing town ball, 
baste, marbles and knucks all over the pen — that 
day I played my first game of knucks in prison. 

At that time Grant seemed to be changing his 
base, and Forrest had defeated Sturgis in Missis- 
sippi, diiving him back to Memphis, and capturing 
2,000 men and 14 pieces of artillery. General 
Grant moved his army to the south side of the 
James river on the 17th of June, and the next 
day C. L. Yallandigham suddenly turned up in 
Ohio, after an exile of several months. The peo- 
ple everywhere received him with enthusiastic 
joy, and the press was soon in a mighty stew over 
the matter, some advising the President to ship 
him off again, while others suggested that it 
would be best to let him alone, which was done. 

On the evening of the IStli we were allowed to 
go swimming in the lake, for the first time in the 
season. The water was warm, and it was delight- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 235 

fill sport. There were about 200 of us in the 
water at once, and a loyal cuss was on picket in a 
Kttle boat out in front of us. 

On the 19th the ice wagon began its summer 
visits, and we gladly welcomed it. We got ice at 
five cents per pound, and from five to eight 
pounds daily was enough for a mess of from six 
to ten men, so the tax was not very heavy — 
nothing compared with the luxury. The larger 
messes of from twenty to fifty kept their water in 
barrels, and bought ice accordingly. 

At that date we were getting five daily paper? 
in our room, the New York Herald^ Chicago 
Times, Cincinnati Commercial, Philadelphia Age 
and New York> Times. They preached all kinds 
of doctrines. About twenty of Morgan's officers, 
captured at Cynthiana, arrived at prison on the 
22d, and from Major McAfee I learned that Mij 
cousin, B. A. Wash, was among the captured, and 
had been sent to Eock Island, Illinois. It was 
about that date that we heard General Polk had 
been killed in Georgia, and just then the Yankee 
sentinels seemed to be exceedingly parti ular, 
and even insulting; for what reason we could not 
tell. 

June 23d there was a grand review of the troops 
on Johnson's Island, Major-General McOook being 
present, and gold was ebbing and fiowing be- 
tween 220 and 235 ; but that did not hinder the 



236 CAMP, FIELD AliD PRISOIT LIFE. 

rebellonians from getting up a good performance, 
and any number of the fellows from down South 
had the change requisite to see and hear the 
show. 

General Archer, who had been with us since 
the battle at Gettysburg, was, at noon of the 24tl!, 
ordered to prepare to leave immediately, and it 
was whispered around that he w^as to be sent to 
the front to be put under fire, in retaliation for 
some Federals who were quartered in Charleston, 
within the range of the Union batteries. He 
never went farther than Fort Warren, from 
where he was soon exchanged, promoted to a 
major-general, and died soon after. 

Also, on the 24th, twenty officers came in from 
Johnson's army and from Western Virginia. Sev- 
eral of my acquaintances were among the latter, 
and from them I learned that the skeleton of my 
regiment was in the fight at Staunton, and that 
Major Rhea was badly wounded in the face. 

It was about the 27th that Grant's 2d army 
corps was routed, and several of Sherman's sup- 
ply trains burned in Georgia by the rebel General 
Wharton. The next day we got news that Sher- 
man had been repulsed, and gold had gone up 
to 240. 

The day following perhaps a dozen more ISfor- 
gan Rangers came to take lodging with us. Lieu- 
tenant Oliver, of my native county, being of the 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOlSr LIFE. 237 

numl^er. And that day Captain Jonas, of Ar- 
kansas, returned from a parole of one month. He 
had been to see his parents, in Illinois, who were 
old friends of President Lincoln. At that time 
the Yanks were blasting some wells and sinks in 
onr prison yard, and frequently did fragments of 
stone liy uncomfortably close to rebellious heads. 

On the 11th day of June the 171st Ohio, which 
had been sent to Kentucky to look after the Mor- 
gan raiders, returned to the island. And the same 
day seven of General Morgan's surgeons were 
sent to our prison, preparatory to going South. 
By a mutual agreement, surgeonS and chaplains 
were to be released unconditionally, but, from 
bad faith, they were* frequently kept imprisoned 
for several months. 

July 1st I received a letter from Lieut. H. M. 
Baldwin, battery M, 5th United States artillery, 
dated " Two miles from Petersburg, Va." Henry 
Baldwin Avas my class-mate in college, and we 
were ever the best of friends, each always emu- 
lous to excel the other in merit. On the day of 
graduation he stood at the head of the class, and 
I was not far off. In parting we severed a tie of 
sweet friendship, neither dreaming that we would 
ever be in hostile array, the one against the other, 
for, though living at the North (New Jersey), he 
was conservative, and I was no fire-eater. 

In truth, neither of us then (May, 1861) thought 



238 CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISON LIFE 

of entering the army at all, and I presume that, at 
last, the same took him in as did myself — he found 
that the conflict of jSTorth and South was inevit- 
able, and felt it a duty to take sides. Nor do I 
think it unreasonable that he chose the side he 
did, because, let men say what they will to the 
contrary, surrounding influences have a mighty 
control over our thoughts and actions. 

Lieutenant B.'s letter expressed the same per- 
sonal feeling as the day we parted, and I'm sure 
I felt none other. He told me of many of my 
IN'orthern school-mates — some killed, some still in 
the battle, and 'I could give him similar intelli- 
gence about the Southern boys. My only other 
Northern class-mate, Geo. M. Steever, was killed 
at Vicksburg. Poor George was the youngest of 
our class, had a brilliant mind, a kind heart, and 
but few cadets had more friends than George 
Steever. 

Secretary Chase resigned the 1st of July, and 
two Southern gentlemen sojourning up North tried 
to scratch out under a lamp, at the stilly hour of 
midnight. The sentinel kindly v/arned them that 
he had his eyes open, and politely requested them 
to return to their quarters and wait till exchange 
day. They saw the point, took the hint, and went 
instanter. The next day I received, per express, a 
package of nice books from Miss Julia G. Barry, 
who is one of the best rebels old Kentucky affords. 



CAMP, FIELD ATfD PEISON" LIFE. 239 

Prisoners were now coming in at a rapid rate, 
and our pen was getting crowded beyond its pro- 
per capacity. Lieut. T. F. Hooper, of Georgia, 
came into our room by order of Major Scoville, 
but he did not prove an' agreeable room mate, and 
did not stay with us very long. He had been 
raised in atiluence and indolence, consequently 
petted and spoiled, and seemed to ignore the fact 
that there were any duties to perform, or that he 
was under any obligations to his fellow prisoners. 

Our room was an institution carried on in a 
systematic way, every one having his share of 
the duties to discharge. Hooper generally took 
care to be out of the way when his time came, 
and, as we were unwilling to wait on him, and 
neither weak hints nor strong ones had the desired 
effect, it became disagreeable, and nobody shed 
tears when he was sent South with a squad of 
invalids. During the night of the 3d a part of 
the ditch which had been dug inside the prison 
wall caved in, and the sentinel over it fired several 
shots into the inanimate earth, thinking it was 
some Southern fellow trying to go home. 

At my Northern prison home on the 4th day of 
July, 1864, a salute of thirty -five heavy guns was 
fired at noon, and the island was chock full of 
women, children and colored people. Some of 
them came to see their soldier friends, but a large 
per centage was attracted by a curiosity to see 



240 CAMP, FIELD Al^D PRISOTT LIFE. 

how " Southern chivalry " looked and lived np 
North. Several excursion boats went out from 
Sandusky that morning to spend the day at Kelly's 
Island, or some other romantic place, in feasting 
and dancing. The steamers came as close to our 
prison fence as possible, some three hundred yards, 
with the stars and stripes flying, the bands play- 
ing, and the ladies waving their handkerchiefs, 
but we guessed that it was not a token of love for 
us. In our prison all passed off quietly and soberly 
that day. 

I find inscribed in my diary for July 6th : " The 
Alabama sunk off Cherbourg, France, by treachery 
of a Federal cruiser. Uncle Abe proclaims mar- 
tial law in Kentucky. I have no letters from home 
for a month ; am getting uneasy. Geo. P. Morris, 
the journalist and poet, is dead." The next day 
I got a box of provisions from my grandmother, 
which had been broken open and several articles 
extracted, but I had no right to complain of bad 
luck, for I had been very fortunate in receiving 
my express matter promptly and in safety. On 
the 8th my heart was eased and gladdened by the 
receipt ^f a letter from my mother; she had writ- 
ten, but her letters miscarried. 

Little did I dream, one year ago to-day, that 
the country would now be situated as it is, and 
that I would be in a common county jail, charged 
with an infringement of the civil laws. But the 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 241 

future ever was and ever will be wrapped up in 
mystery. To-day we know not what will be our 
portion for to-morrow. And it is a merciful pro- 
vision of Providence, for, could we see the dark 
and troublous paths before us, too many of us 
would grow heart-sick, despair and want to give 
up our mission on earth, and lie down and die. 
As it is, the little monitors of hope and faith give 
us incentives to struggle on for something yet 
ahead — we know not what, but it is an element of 
man's nature to desire still something more, no 
matter what or how much he may possess. 

But that is digressing from the narrative of my 
prison experience. The 12th day of July was a 
rather memorable one on Johnson's Isle. The 
whole west wall of the prison yard was moved 
back some sixty paces, and those who inhabited 
the inside were discussing the propriety of revolt- 
ing. But nearly the whole garrison was under 
arms and watching our manoeuvers, so the wise 
and prudent ones among us said it was best to be 
right easy. Some monstrous brave fellows, with 
more courage than discretion, ranted around and 
called for volunteers to charge the loyal troops, 
but '' burnt children dread the fire," and we all 
concluded to remain a few days longer. 

The next morning the rebel boys were out bright 

and early surveying the hitherto forbidden ground, 

just like a lot of mules or cattle, when first turned 
16 



242 CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISON LIFE. 

into a new pasture, will run all over it. Very 
soon little plots of ground were being staked off 
for gardens, and in a few days a score of patches 
were planted out with every variety of seed. The 
owners spent much of their time working, water- 
ing and watching over the crops, and some of 
them received the reward of their labors. 

About the 14th of July the Confederates were 
threatening both Washington -and Baltimore, 
being within a few miles of each, and Maj.-Gen. 
Franklin, of the Union army, was captured, but 
subsequently escaped. On the 16th several fel- 
lows went out after darlc and took the oath, the 
treatment of some other chaps of their stripe 
having made them somewhat cautious. The next 
evening the " Michigan," which had been off some- 
where on a cruise of observation, came and cast 
anchor at her usual station, right close to the be- 
loved (?) sons of the South, and about dusk a 
Dutch officer of the day came in and ordered the 
rebels to keep close in their holes till daylight. 
Subsequently the order was slightly modified, but 
the Yanks, for some reason, " had the devil in 
them," and several shots were fired during the 
night, but no harm done. 

I received, per express, on the 18th, $50.00 from 
ni}^ mother, and at the same time she sent, at my 
request, $10.00 each to my orderly sergeant. Red 
Anderson, at Point Lookout, and Squire John 



CAMP, FIELD ANB PRISO]^ LIFE. 243 

Murrell, a citizen prisoner at Jolmson's Island, 
from East Tennessee. The guerrillas were now 
swarming round Louisville, and tlie rebels were 
reported as entering Eastern Kentucky, but it 
turned out to be a scare. 

July 20tli President Lincoln made a call for 
500,000 men, but volunteers were hard to get ; in 
fact, that system had most played out, and nearly 
all their recruits were conscripts, which means a 
little worse than no soldiers at all. Maj. Scoville 
was now sick, and there was smart sickness in 
our hospital, but not of a fatal kind. That day I 
observed several Southern gentlemen of secesh 
persuasion making turnip patches, and among 
them was General Trimble, of IMaryland, who had 
one foot shot off at Gettysburg, and was going on 
crutches. I went to the circulating library and 
exchanged " The Wandering Jew " for several 
smaller volumes that I had not read. 

The circulating library was an institution after 
this style : A request was made for all the pris- 
oners to send all the books they had read and did 
not desire to keep to the room of a certain officer, 
who was to act as librarian. For every book con- 
tributed the donor was allowed to read so many 
volumes from the library thus accumulated. Soon 
a miscellaneous collection of from 500 to 800 books, 
magazines and novels was amassed, and formed a 
very popular institution. Those who had no books 



244 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

to give or exchange could, for 50 cents a month, 
have free access to the library. 

That day, while at the- library, I accidentally 
met Lieutenant Tom Brown, of the 26th Tennes- 
see regiment, with which I was once connected, 
and in which I was wounded while commanding 
Captain Morrell's company at the battle of Fort 
Donelson. Though Lieutenant Brown had been 
in the prison several months, neither of us knew 
of the otiier's presence. 

The next day I received a letter from Colonel 
H. V. N. Boynton, of the 37th Ohio, who Avas at 
his home in Cincinnati recovering from a wound 
received in Georgia. Colonel Boynton graduated 
at the Kentucky Military Listitute the first year 
I was there, and was afterward one of our profes- 
sors for a couple of years. 

My notes for the 25th speak of a chair factory 
in the prison pen, and all that kept many other 
professions from being engaged in was a want of 
means and facilities for procuring and contriving 
the necessary implements. At half-past nine 
o'clock that night a sentinel shot into Block 5 
and wounded one man in the arm and another in 
the shoulder. That was the hour at which lights 
were required to be extinguished, and the guard 
claimed that he fired at a light, but fifty men who 
Avere in the room declared that no light was 
burning. Colonel Hill investigated the affair, 
but we never knew to what conclusion he came. 



CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISOIS" LIFE. 245 

Captain Wells, who was acting Superintendent 
of Prison during tlie illness of Major Scoville, 
took out some bad bread for inspection and to 
give the baker a warning. It seemed to have the 
desired effect, for the bread began to get better 
right away. That day a new police sergeant was 
assigned to our division of the prison, and he 
tried to be more strict than his predecessor in the 
matter of police and cleanliness of rooms. 

The next morning at roll-call our mess voted 
that all hands should turn out promptly at roll- 
call, as the punctual ones were often kept stand- 
ing in line a long time because of the laziness or 
tardiness of a few fellows. Some selfish, unrea- 
sonable individuals tried to resist the will and 
action of the majority, but when their rations 
came in jeopardy they succumbed, and all went 
on swimmingly. 

The day before we had got news of a bloody 
fight before Atlanta on the 22d, in which General 
McPherson, of the Northern army, was slain. 
General Joseph E. Johnston had been superseded 
by General Hood because he was unwilling to 
carry out the policy of the President instead of 
his own. The whole South did then, and does yet, 
condemn that as one of the blindest acts of Mr. 
Davis, for General Johnston was everywhere re- 
garded as one of the master military spirits of 
the South, and General Hood was known to be 



246 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

imprudent, tliougli brave to a fault. By bold and 
reckless manoeuvering and fighting lie soon re- 
duced to a mere skeleton a magnificent army. 
I have always regarded the day of Johnston's 
supersedure as one of the darkest in the war for 
Southern independence. His retreat from Dalton 
to Atlanta was a briliant military feat in every 
sense of the word. 

AYhile all this was going on General Jubal 
Early, avIio had temporarily retired from ]\Iary- 
land, was again invading Northern soil, and 
Senator Mallory, of Kentucky, was killed by 
guerrillas near Louisville. Both Kentucky and 
Missouri were now swarming with bushwhackers 
and robbers. Many of the roving bands gave no 
quarter to their enemies, nor did they receive any. 
A few years hence it will seem strange that peace 
and harmony could have come out of such a chaos. 
On the 30th all the 128th Ohio went to bury Gen. 
McPherson at his home with military honors. 
The last day of July was the hottest day of the 
season up to date. 

I will now close this chapter by giving entire 
the programme of the concert given by the 
Rebellonians on the evening of the 22d, simply 
adding that it was a complete success, the gross 
receipts being over a hundred dollars. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 247 

REBELLONIANS. 



Manager Lieut. H. CARPENTER 

Musical Director.... Lieut. A. E. NEWTON 



FRIDAY, yULT 22, 1864, 3 P. M., AT BLOCK ^. 



COMPANY: 

Capt. C. Sherwin, of Tennessee. Lieut. A. E. Newton, of Mississippi. 

Capt. W. Harris, of Mississippi. Lieut. H. Carpenter, of Louisiana, 

Capt. G. H. Henchy, of Louisiana. Lieut. S. G. Cooke, of Mississippi. 

Capt. W. S. Otey, of Arkansas. Lieut. D. Dunham, ol Florida. 

Capt. J. C. Ward, of Virginia. Lieut. P. E Maher, of Alabama. 

Capt. B. Palmer, of Tennessee. Lieut. J. J. Loughlin, of N. Carolina. 

Capt. J. B. Withers, of Virginia. Lieut. Chas. P. Crandell, ot Maryland. 



PROGRAMME 



PART FIRST: 

Overture , Band. 

Open in Of Chorus Com pan v. 

Who Will Care for Mother Now? Henchy. 

Gentle Nettie Moore Withers. 

Eupidee Carpenter. 

Annie of the Vale Maher. 

Cavalryman's Song Shei"\vin. 



PART SECOND: 



I., Ballad — Dear Mother, I'll Come Home Again Henchy. 

2 Off to Richmond Like a Flam Sherwin. 

3. Picayune Butler.. Otey. 



PART THIRD: 

The performance will conclude with 

THE FASHIONABLE BALL. 

ZKKE, a nistic Sherwin-.. 

CYRUS — nf undoubted musical ability ..Otey. 

MR GINGER BLUE, ) . .^ r ^x. i^ ^ ^ tCarpenter. 

MR. WASHINGTON GREEN, ( ^^^^^'S'tes of the first water., j' p.^,;„^^_ 

MISS PHILLIPS— A Terpsichorean divinity Henchy. 

Price of Admission, 25 Cents. Reserved Seats, 5c Cents. 

yC^ Tickets for Reserved Seats can he oh'ained from the Manager on ths^ 
day preceding the performance, at Block u, middle room,, up staixs. 



248 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 



CHAPTER XII. 



At Home, in the Calaboose, > 
July 10th, 1865. i 

As August came tumbling in, so did the rebel 
prisoners. Sixty -two Confederates, captured at 
Atlanta, July 22d, made their appearance the 1st 
day of the month, said they had been furloughed 
and had come to spend the balance of the sum- 
mer with us. Among them I found my old friend 
and class-mate, Major Dick Person, of Memphis. 
About that date it was that Ulysses Grant, having 
in vain tried every means reasonable to catch Rob- 
ert Lee napping, undermined and aimed to blow 
up the old gentleman at Petersburg. The result 
w^as that scores and legions of Mr. Grant's colored 
folks got so badly hurt that they never spoke 
again, and Mr. Lee and his boys were in a humor 
and condition for laughing rather than cr^ying. 

Eleven rebel surgeons left for the South on the 
4th of August, and I had my bunk widened so as 
to take in my old friend, Major Person, to sleep 
with me. Stoneman's cavalry were almost de- 



CAMP, FIELD AjS^D PEISO]^ LIFE. 249 

stroj^ed near Newnan, Georgia, on the 6tli, and 
Early was reported entering Maryland with 35,- 
000 men, but the strength of the command was 
greatly exaggerated. And the ]S"orthern papers 
said Mobile was in Federal possession, which 
same yarn had been perpetrated forty times over 
concerning Richmond and Charleston. 

The following day the authorities commenced 
hauling in sand and lumber to build a couple of 
cook and mess rooms, of sufficient capacity to 
accommodate the whole prison, it having become 
necessary to take the old cook and mess rooms as 
quarters for the large number of prisoners then 
on the island. 

Here comes a bold and successful attempt to 
escape from Federal clutches. In the afternoon 
Lieutenant Murph}^, of our mess, while walking 
with a companion in the lower part of the prison 
yard, noticed the detailed soldiers coming and 
going with the sand wagons, and, having a pair 
of blue pants at his quarters, concluded that 
maj^be he could go, too. So he donned his blue, 
put on a rusty woolen shirt, got a police shovel, 
rolled up his sleeves, rubbed some dust over his 
face, arms, and clothes, then, with his spade on his 
shoulder, he marched out behind the first wagon 
that had no attendant. And now, to carry the 
joke out, he had to resort to one still more bold, 
so he went straightway to Colonel Hill's office, 



250 CAMP, FIELD Al^D PEISOlSr LIFE. 

and, with a monstrons long face, told him that 
he had jnst heard that his mother, who lived 
near Sandusky City, was at the point of death 
from a sudden illness, that his Captain was not at 
his quarters so as to give him a pass, and he 
prayed the Colonel to give him leave to go to his 
mother immediately. 

The ruse worked, and it happened that Major 
Scoville, who knew him well (for that was his 
second visit to Johnson's Island), crossed the- 
bay in the same boat as himself. He after- 
ward vn-ote to the Major from Canada, telling 
him of the fact, and that he thought it best to' 
keep his j)resence dark in consideration of the 
circumstances. For several days we kept his 
absence covered up in this wise: When his 
name was called on the roll some one would say 
he was ^ck ; then, after roll-call was over, some 
fellow would detain the Federal officer till another 
would go and cover up in Murphy's couch, and 
when the roll-man would go round to see the sick 
man (Murphy), he would find him " miglity had 
off, aclihig all over,'''' and grunting with pain. 

Thus things went on till the third morning, and 
when Mr. Lieutenant called the name "Murphy," 
no answer came. He asked where Murphy was ; 
the boys said they didn't know, but reckoned he 
was in Canada. It was several days before we 
could convince him but what we were joking. 



CAMP, FIELD ATs^D PEISON" LIFE. 251 

Lieutenant Mnrpliy soon sent us his photograph, 
and at the end of two months was in Dixie-hmd. 

My notes for the 7th say : " Seven rebels in blue 
pants follow lumber w^agons out." The prison pen 
was now in a great fever for Yankee trowsers, and 
a new sutler came in, we being happy of the 
chance to bid Mr. Johnson good-bye. The boj'S 
prepared to go out by the wholesale on the 9th of 
August. More Yankee garb was raked up than I 
dreamed was in prison, worn-out blue pants being 
worth more than new ones. 

It may seem incredulous, but I saw eleven rebels 
go out on two wagons, and they looked very fair 
specimens of the laboring Yankees, v^ith ragged 
pants, rusty shirts, slouched hats, and arms and 
face begrimed with dust and sand to make up for 
the want of sunburn. Adjutant ISTeAvman, of my 
regiment, was among them, and he looked so 
completely Yankeefied that I could scarcely 
recognize him, though sitting but a few yards off 
watching the manoeuvers. 

At last one fellow was detected, and spoiled the 
fun of himself and those who had gone before. 
Lieutenant Selecman, of Savannah, Missouri, 
after attiring himself in proper costume, procured 
a shovel and bounced into the first sand wagon 
that came in and commenced heaving out the 
gritty stuff with all his might, the sweat making 
huge white streaks through the dirt on his face 



252 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISOX LIFE. 

and arms. The sergeant in charge of the work, 
happening to look at him closely, conld not 
exactly recognize him as one of his detail, but 
the fellow assured him that such was the case, 
telling him to what company and regiment he 
belonged. But when asked his Captain's name 
it was a stunner, and he had to capitulate. 

The sergeant then remembering that he had 
seen quite a number going out with the wagons, 
began to feel a little suspicious, and went to the 
sentinel at the gate and ordered him to let no one 
go out with the wagons till further orders. ' He 
then invited Lieut. S. to visit Col. HllFs quarters 
with him, to which tlie Lieut, readily assented, 
but on the way he changed his notion and made 
tracks around several blocks to his quarters. 

Li a half hour the whole garrison was out and 
the entire island alive with blue-coats hunting 
seceshers. At sundown seventeen of the royal 
stock were turned into the pen wearing grn,j pants 
instead of blue, and some of them without any 
hats at all. Next day the balance of them, I don't 
know how many, were brought in, but very few 
having got away, for the shores of the island 
were kept picketed day and night, and it was the 
next thing to impossible to find means of escape. 
From that day forward a corx:)oral, with a squad 
of men, was kept at the big gate, Avhose duty it 
was to examine every wagon that passed in or 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 253 

out, and to allow no one to pass either way that 
they did not recognize as authorized to do so. Of 
course, we had a rigid inspection, muster and 
search the next day, but the gentlemen from the 
lower country anticipated it, and not a contraband 
thing was comeatable. 

About the 11th of August General Stoneman, 
with 500 men, was captured near Macon, Georgia, 
and on that day gold stood at 257 to 260 in New 
York. I noted down on the 14th of August: 
"Sunday — Yankee carpenters working on new 
mess hall ; a corporal's guard brought in to make 
Block 13 respect the Lieutenant calling the roll ; 
some rebels gone to Canada ; more strict at roll 
call, preaching and prayer meeting," 

The rebel Colonel Adam Johnson was on the 
Ohio river, in Kentucky, with 1,200 men, about 
the middle of August. The 16th was a chilly day, 
and some twenty " fresh fish," as we called them, 
came to stay with us. And it seems that every 
means of escape had not yet been tried, for my 
journal for the 18th has the following : " Colonel 
Baxter dyes a rebel uniform blue, assumes a Fed- 
eral Major's dress, and goes out at the small gate, 
representing himself as a New York officer ; is 
detected and brought back." 

On the 20th of August two disagreeable, heavy 
strokes fell upon us at the same time. There 
came an order from the Commissary General of 



254 CAMP, FIELD AXD PICISON LIFE. 

Prisoners cutting off all provisions from either 
friends or tlie sutler, which produced many grim 
faces, brought forth many a sigh, and something 
more than a few left-handed blessings upon who- 
ever had a hand in striking the Southern chivalry 
such a cruel blow. 

Then, to add fuel to the fire of discontent, Col. 
Hill, for the sake of innovation, and to crush out 
our means of traffic with each other, abolished 
the system of the sutler giving us checks bearing 
a stated value, and taking an order for the same 
on the post commandant, who had all our money 
in charge. Instead, a complicated schedule or 
requisition was gotten up, which had to be filled 
out and approved by the roll caller, superintend- 
ent of prison and post commandant ; then, being 
presented to the sutler, he furnished just the arti- 
cles on that particular requisition, of which we 
acknowledged the receipt at the price set opposite 
each article, that being his order on the commander 
for the amount. 

None but those who have had experience know 
of the thousand and one inconveniences to which 
prisoners were subjected. Some fellows were 
always tjoubled and constantly mad about these 
little annoyances, but I took it all as something 
that was to be, and seldom was my equilibrium 
of temperament ruffled by anything of the kind. 

August 21st was a disagreeable day, and that 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 255 

niglit was rainy and stormy, and my diary says 
that three Sonthern gentlemen, desiring to go 
Soiitli, crawled down a slop ditch that night, pre- 
pared to saw ont, but the sentinel spying them, 
called for the corporal of the guard, who marched 
them to the guard house, where they nearly froze 
"before morning, in their wet and muddy apparel. 
• During the afternoon of the 23d, while promen- 
ading the prison walks with a friend, I met Lieut. 
Isham Dudley, of the 4th Kentuc'ky, who had 
arrived some weeks previous, and could give me 
much information from my old friends of the 4th, 
with which regiment I was connected at the time 
of its organization at " Camp Burnett," Tennessee, 
in the latter part of August, 18C1. 

On the nights of the 23d and 24th Lieut. Clark 
and myself drew about 100 feet of plank from 
where the Yankees were building the new iiiesb 
halls, to make us a studio in the garret loft of our 
block. A guard was kept over the plank, but we 
tricked him thus: One of iis would go just at 
dusk and get him at one end of the pile of plank, 
and detain him there by getting his interest or 
sympathy aroused by whatever kind of talk was 
necessary, and, in the meantime, the other one 
would be dragging a plank from the other end ol 
the pile. Then we would change positions and 
occupations without any seeming concert of action, 
managing to get several fine plank each night. It 



256 CAMP, FIELD A^"D I RISON^ LIFE. 

was no trouble for us to n.ake a saw of a case 
knife ; so we measured, sawed and put aloft our 
lumber while the sun was down. 

On the evening of the 25th I wrote in my diary : 
" Our studio finished ; just the thing." And here 
I will give a little pen picture of it : Just over 
the outer foot post of my bunk we sawed a hole 
two feet square in the ceiling through which to 
pass our lumber and our carcasses en route to our 
studio. As the hole was five feet above the top 
of the post, we had to first j)oke our head and 
arms up, and then draw up the balance, after a 
manner more easily imagined than described. 
The joists were now under us, and the rafters and 
shingles close overhead, and it was pitchy dark. 
We groped our way to the gable end of the build- 
ing, and, with case knife saw, soon made an aper- 
ture the size of a 10 by 12 pane of glass,* which 
glass we put in after the most approved fashion. 
I shall not tell where we got the glass. The next 
thing was to make our floor, which we soon had 
clown in good shape, ten feet square. But now 
we had no furniture, so we went to work with 
borrowed tools, stolen nails and confiscated lum- 
ber, and, in a reasonable time, a respectable table 
and two fair stools graced our platform. TS.en 
we took a block ^if wood and bored a hole in it 
for a candlestick, and then it was I wrote " our 
studio is finished." 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON. LIFE. 257 

Tlie question may be asked if it didn't " cost 
more than it came to ?" I answer no, for it was a 
real gratification to do it just because it was 
" against the rules of school ;" then it was a quiet, 
retired, pleasant nook to study in, such as one 
could not find in any room of the prison. Then, 
again, we could study or read there till midnight 
if we chose, which we often did. All lights in the 
prison had to be out at half-past nine, and all that 
we had to do to make it seeming darkness up in 
our cuddy-hole was to hang a blanket over our 
little window. Lieut. Clark was studying Spanish, 
and I was driving away at both French and 
Spanish, and to-day I would not take a peck of 
shinplasters for what I learned then and there. 

A few days after we made our " home in the 
loft" Major Scoville, who was often in our room, 
asked what was the meaning of that hole in the 
ceiling. We told him it was to let the heated air 
from our stove escape, and changed the subject 
soon as possible. 

For the 27th August my diary contains : " Ex- 
cursion party on the island ; cannons fired ; two 
hundred rebels in bathing ; fifty yards of the 
prison fence blown down by wind storm ; a large 
squad of secesh threaten to charge out, but it's 
all smoke and no fire." For the 28th I jotted 
down : "Lee and Grant, and Early and Sheridan 

17 



2f)8 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

having some heavy fighting — both parties seem to 
be whipping.'* 

On the 30th I started a letter home, in the name 
of a rebel who was sick, for some eatables. We 
had to resort to all sorts of tricks to evade the 
cniel and iinnecessary restrictions of the powers 
that were. If we could not be sick ourselves we 
could get some fellow who was sick to assume our 
name long enough to get a permit for a box of 
good things from home or elsewhere. After we 
got the permit signed and started, it was all right, 
for when tlie box came it was easy to claim that 
a fellow had got most loell since the things were 
sent for. 

A short time after that Lieutenant Clark, who 
was so bony and ugly that he always looked sick, 
pja^^ed off on the Yankee doctor, in my name, 
with a bogus case of chronic dysentery, and got 
an order to send to one of my friends for some 
needful restoratives. I have heard Dr. Eversman, 
chief surgeon of the post, remark that out of 100 
'' sick letters " presented to him for approval, 80 
per cent, called for " chronic diarrhea," the ap- 
plicant often being as fat and blooming as a morn- 
ing rose. 

On the 1st day of September I wrote in my 
memorandum, "Wheeler moving on Nashville 
from Murfreesboro — Atlanta reported captured — 
white fish issued to us instead of bacon — nothing 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOlSr LIFE. 259 

to fry it in, and we are displeased — an order comes 
forbidding us to write more than two letters a 
week, and we are displeased again, but many of 
us see a way of getting round it, for there are 
other names except our own, and some of us can 
Avrite running hand, back hand, and another 
style." 

The next day, Friday, at 2 P. M., a Kentucky 
rebel soldier, named Nichols, was Ining on the 
island. He had been sentenced by a court-mar- 
tial in Cincinnati, on the charge of being a mur- 
derer, guerilla and robber. The proof seemed 
clear, and, though we felt sad, we could not but 
justify his fate. At the hour of execution the 
prison guard was doubled. His cousin, Lieuten- 
ant Mchols, a prisoner with us, allowed to go 
out and see him that morning. 

Saturday night there came along a little inci- 
dent that, at home, would not have been noticed, 
but which I jotted down as follows: "We have 
big ratastrophe — kill two." That night three 
large rats came into the room, and one of the 
boys, being awake, closed the door on them. As 
it was hot we had left the door open and the top 
sash of the window out. Their scampering and 
lunging to escape soon waked the whole room, 
and two of the fellows, being somewhat nervous 
and tired, wanted to let the rats out. But as the 
majority ruled in our room, and we wanted to 



260 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

have some more fun, the animals had to stay. It 
was a jollification from 3 o'clock till daylight, the 
rats racing over the floor, table, stove, shelves and 
beds, and frequently finding the end of a leap 
right in our faces. One huge fellow crawled on 
my bunk near my head, and made a clear leap 
through a second story window. At daylight, 
after chasing the other two for awhile, we cap- 
tured and beheaded them. So much for the rat 
story. 

Notwithstanding the following was the Lord's 
day, our prison witnessed a " ratastrophe " on a 
far more magnificent scale than the one just 
named. I was an eye witness and noted down at 
the time, " Sunday, 2 o'clock P. M. — About fifty 
rebels, with a little dog, ratting — catch forty — 
some of the fellows going to make chicken pie, 
and others squirrel fry of them — lots of rats and 
fun." To give some idea of the respectability 
and rank of our "rat club," I will just mention 
that Colonel John A, Fite, 7th Tennessee regi- 
ment, was its President, and Lieutenant Billy 
Foote, son of Governor Foote, of Nashville, his 
chief-of-staff. 

On the 5th day of September I got leave from 
Major Scoville to send home for some winter 
clothing, which, after many vexatious obstacles, 
my mother succeeded in getting to me in Novem- 
ber. At that time my friend, Lieutenant Nick 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON" LIFE. 261 

Fain, of tlie 60th Tennessee, was sick in tlie hos- 
pital, and sickness was on the increase. Two 
days later we heard that Atlanta had certainly 
gone up, and that General John H. Morgan had 
been killed at Greenville, Tennessee. 

Now came one of those troublous, exciting eras 
in our prison existence. The new mess halls were 
finished, and all the cooking stoves were ordered 
to be moved to the appropriate department of the 
same. The cooking facilities of at least 1,200 
men were now crowded into a place about 40 feet 
square. Imagine twelve large cook stoves in that 
space, with about fifty cooks, and the rations, 
wood and water to cook for a thousand men inter- 
spersed, and you have a very slight idea of the 
disadvantages. That broke into the domestic 
comforts of the institution more than anything 
ever before had done, and I knew not an individual 
who was not displeased by the new order of 
things. But necessity compelled them to accept 
and accommodate themselves to it. 

There were a dozen or more small, private cook 
stoves in the prison, and they were also ordered 
to be moved, but, by skillful and judicious ma- 
noeuvering, some of us managed to keep our 
stoves in our rooms. For a week we hid the ves- 
sels of ours and hired a fellow to cook for us at 
the mess hall, then we cooked a little for break 
fast and kept the stove cold all day. Before long 



262 CAMP, FIELD AND PKISON LIFE. 

we went. a step farther, and cooked dinner, too, 
but, for a whole month, did not let a Yankee 
catch a pot on our stove, or us washing dishes. 
If our dinner pot was on, and they came on an in- 
spection tour, it had to go under the table and be 
covered up. And "we 'uns" were not the only 
chaps that had to make hay only while the sun 
shined. 

In the great future all these facts and incidents 
will seem strange, almost mythical, to the reader, 
but it is a true picture of every-day life on John- 
son's Island. 

And now came the exciting question of who 
should occupy the cook and mess rooms just va- 
cated. The rooms, being small, were desirabl--, as 
winter was coming on, and it was almost imj)ossi- 
bie to keep warm in the large rooms during cold 
da.ys. No one could change his quarters without 
leave from the prison superintendent, to whom at 
least two hundred applications were made, almost 
every one adducing some special reason why he 
should have preference. I must say that the as- 
signment was a partial affair, the friends of the 
superintendent getting preference over those worse 
situated. 

My journal says that on the 10th Capt. Blair's 
room of our mess took in four additional men, for 
the sake of getting to cook in their room on a 
small stove ; it also notes that the press reported 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 263 

Early as* continually retreating in the Yalley, 
that gold stood at 225, and that the letter of 
acceptance of General McClellan, who had just 
been nominated for President, was warlike. 
I copy from my diary for the 14th : " One hun- 
dred privates sent here from ' Camp Chase ' to do 
police duty ; circular from General Trimble con- 
cerning police matters and the general interests 
of the prison ; at nine o'clock p. m. we make a 
raid on the hospital wood-pile." 

Now, about that last item. We (our room) 
were taking the squirrel's plan, and laying away 
a store for the cold blasts of winter. They issued 
us wood in limited quantities, but furnished the 
hospital without regard to quantity, and we could 
see no impropriety in appropriating a stick or 
two every night or so, which we laid away in a 
nice pile in the loft close by the studio. Every 
few days we would take a little of it down and 
saw it up with our regular rations of wood, then 
store it away in the garret over our room. By 
the 1st of November we had a solid half-cord of 
nicely prepared extra stovewood. It made us 
feel independent, and many a time in the dead of 
winter made us feel comfortable while the less 
provident were suffering. 

Twenty-five sick were sent off on the 16th, and 
at the same time Colonel Lewis, our most elo- 
quent preacher and most prominent Mason, left 



2G4 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

for special exchange, and six naval officers also 
went on exchange, pursuant to an agreement 
between the naval departments. The next day 
two rebel captains who had been nurses in the 
hospital, and who had managed to procure Fede- 
ral corporals' uniforms, forged passes and walked 
out at the gate, big as General Grant, but the 
Yankee hospital steward, Doctor Foster{f), re- 
cognized them, and they were earnestly, though 
kindly, solicited to metamorphose back into Con- 
federates, which they did without much delay. 

About the 18th of September the steamers 
Island Queen and Pliilo Parsons were captured 
on Lake Erie by Confederates from Canada, and 
the next day several conspirators were arrested 
in Sandusky City, and for several days the gun- 
boat Michigan was searching about the lake for 
piratical crafts. One of the Sandusky conspira- 
tors was formerly a lieutenant in the Confederate 
army, and known by many then on the island. 
My journal reports heavy fighting on the Poto- 
mac and on the Weldon railroad about tliat time- 
Major-General Hitchcock came to the island on 
the 22d, and that day I bathed at the wash-house 
and had my clothes washed on a machine. 
Washing was carried on as a business. A fellow 
would get permission to buy a machine from San- 
dusky, and engage to do the washing of certain 
.ones every week; then he would hire sufficient 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 265 

help to collect, wash, iron and deliver the cloth- 
ing. Prices were moderate, and the work gener- 
ally faithfnlly performed. I did my own washing 
at first, but after hiring a few times, lost all taste 
for the business. But I never objected to doing 
my share of the cooking. 

On the 23d Generals Hitchcock and Heintzel- 
man visited the prison quarters and inspected the 
hospital. That night, or rather next morning be- 
fore day. Captain Furnish and Lieutenant Maris, 
of Andrew county, Missouri, who roomed opposite 
me, had a fight in the dark over a rat. The crit- 
ter came snuffing around in search of something 
to eat ; Maris concluded to eat him, so fastened 
the door on him, and Mr. Rat began such gym- 
nastic feats as I have described a few pages back. 
Furnish wanted to sleep, was annoyed, and asked 
Maris to let the quadruped out, which he refused 
to do. Furnish said he would do it himself; 
Maris said he should not. Up they bounced in 
the dark, each intent on having his notion carried 
out; they clinched, they scuffled, they fell, and 
each was glad to find the other willing to quit. 
Maris had a finger nail bit off, and Furnish an 
eye badly gouged. ISTo one knew what became 
of the rat; he vanished during the progress of 
the fracas. 



266 CAMP, FIELD AND PKISON LIFE. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Headquartkrs, Up Stairs in the Jonksboro Jail, "t 

July 11, 1S65. I 

I am still an inmate of that institution built at 
the public expense, and where they propose to 
board fellows for nothing, '•'-pro bono publico.''^ 
It is possible that the public may be benefited 
by my staying here, but I can't see it in that 
light, and I'm very sure that I am making noth- 
ing by the operation. Just now, however, I am 
driving along very quietly and contentedly, and 
will try to rest easy and let time tell what 
will be. 

It may be an item not unworthy of note that 
my writing desk is a strip of plank eight by 
fourteen inches, and that I have to use my lap as 
legs for said piece of furniture ; but such an 
inconvenience as that is a mere matter of moon- 
shine to a prisoner or soldier. 

Now we will leave the present be and wander 
back to September, 1864. The great Chicago 
Convention had nominated McClellan and Pen- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 267 

dleton, and I yet well remember tjlie anxiety the 
Copperhead masses of the North manifested for 
their success, no doubt sincerely feeling that the 
welfare of the country and the restoration of 
peace depended upon it. But the most of us 
Rebs up TsTorth felt indifferent, as we could not 
see wherein our cause would be benefited 
thereby. It may now seem a strange, unchris- 
tian feeling, but then, little did we care how much 
internal dissension and ruin was worked in the 
North. 

But now my state of feelings are changed, and 
I trust the same is true of every honest, reasonable 
man of the South. I would love to see the party 
wounds healed up, so far as was possible, and the 
two sections upon terms of friendship and sym- 
pathy, at least so far as commercial relations were 
concerned ; and it must inevitably come to that, 
for neither section can prosper without it, and 
interest is a great motor power. If we would only 
follow the golden rule, how like a charm it would 
work in alleviating the evils that follow in the 
train of a civil conflict. 

The night of the 24th and the morning of the 
25th September, 1864, are times never to be for- 
gotten by any one who was then on Johnson's 
Island, and perhaps there is not one who has since 
gotten home that has not told his friends of that 
memorable occasion. During the day of the 24th 



268 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISOX LIFE. 

all was qniet and settled, but at the hour of half- 
past nine, when perhaps half the prison were in 
bed, and the rest preparing for it, there suddenly 
came a black, ugly cloud in the west, and the first 
thing we knew a terrific tornado was sweeping 
over our island. 

One-half the standing timber was laid flat, and 
three of our blocks, 4, 5 and 9, and one of the 
garrison quarters, were unroofed. "When the 
house began to quiver and the bricks and timber 
to fly we expected the whole building would be 
a wreck, and each fellow aimed to save himself. 
Those who had retired had no time to put on hat, 
coat, boots or j^ants, and it was pitch dark, except 
when a flash of lightning lit up the appalling 
scene. Some jumped from second story windows, 
others tumbled down the stej)s, they knew not 
how. I made a lunge in the dark from the plat- 
form at the top of our flight of steps leading to 
the second story, without even thinking where I 
would light, but, as it happened, was " right side 
U23 with care " when I reached the ground. 

Then some took refuge in the slop ditches, some 
behind stumps, and some actually climbed down 
into the wells for safety. Others flew wildly 
across the prison yard, hoping to find a safe place 
in the open space next to the lake. I ran the 
gauntlet of the flying timbers, and took refuge 
behind the sutler shop, 200 yards from my quar- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOIT LIFE. 269 

ters. This is just a skeleton idea of the realit}^ 
Many men who had faced the music in a dozen 
bloody battles said they were never before so 
terrified; and, to add to the ill-comfort of the 
occasion, a cold, pelting rain was falling all the 
while. Several were badly wounded, one fellow 
having a strip of flesh two inches wide and to the 
bone taken off his leg from thigh to knee by a 
flying timber, and many miraculous, narrow es- 
capes were made. 

At least one-third of the prison wall was laid 
to the ground, and during all that storm and con- 
fusion the Federal garrison were got into line and 
so disposed as to prevent the escape of any one. 
Several cannon shots and many of musketry were 
tired, intended to intimidate us, but we did not 
scare worth a cent at that. The raging billows 
on the lake, and no way of crossing, was what 
troubled us. Next morning the whole prison 
yard was a mass of scattered and shattered tim- 
bers. A large force of carpenters and workmen 
immediately commenced a readjustment of affairs, 
and in a few weeks all was sound again. From 
that day till this I have felt uneasy when in a 
house while a hard wind was blowing, and I think 
it probable that such a feeling will accompany me 
to the grave. 

The morning after the storm there were any 
number of advertisements for lost articles of every 



270 CAMP, FIELD AND PRTSOX LIFE. 

description, and some rich jokes were told. One 
poor, lean rebel asked a more corpulent companion 
to lie down on him and keep the storm from blow- 
ing him away. And one chap, snddenly repentant, 
asked a room mate to pray for him, and received 
the reply, " I don't know anything but the Lord's 
prayer, and that ain't worth a damn in the time 
of a storm." 

Now, there is something which I forgot in its 
proper j)lace, or rather it occurred about the close 
of 1863, of which period I took no notes, and it 
will go to show that some of us had happy ex- 
periences as well as unhappy ones. With the 
great mass of the human race variety is the spice 
of life, and we were no exception to the general 
rule. We enjoyed in more ways than one the 
case about to be related, and I'm rather sure that 
the reader is fond of the spice of life, and will 
now partially enjoy that which we did to its full 
extent, because we had both a taste for it and a 
taste of it. 

There was one Thompson in our prison, who 
was neither loyal nor disloyal — the good, philan- 
thropic soul couldn't hate anybody for his politics, 
but loved the whole world. Thompson was " on 
the fence," not being rebellious enough to fight 
for Dixie, nor patriotic enough to risk his scalp 
in the cause of the "glorious Union." Late in 
the fall of 1863 Mr. T. established a restaurant at 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOISr LIFE. 271 

one end of block 5, proposing to be excelled by 
none in all the balance of the great world either 
in variety, quality or moderate charges. Dear 
Thompson loved (?) ns so that he did not charge 
ns more than a price and a half for an^^thing. 

Well do I yet remember that Christmas eve of 
the aforesaid year was a beautiful, balmy day, 
and that late in the evening not less than live 
hundred sons of the South were promenading the 
prison walks, the theme of all themes being Christ- 
mas times in days gone by contrasted with then. 
Now, friend T. had procured a fine, fat, old gob- 
bler, and, like all restaurant keepers do, hung it 
out on a nail at the front door as an advertise- 
ment, and the news was circulated everywhere 
that Thompson was going to have a grand Christ- 
mas dinner, admittance fee only half a dollar. 

Now, how much stretch of the imagination 
would it require to conclude that the mouths of 
almost that whole. five hundred were watering for 
some of said turkey ? But comparatively few of 
them were in a fit financial condition for Thomp- 
son's feast. As the twilight was coming on we 
noticed various squads of Southern gentlemen, 
evidently canvassing for some — not legal but prac- 
ticable — means of confiscating the fowl. Perhaps 
a half dozen of us were standing on the platform 
in front of our block, and, feeling sure that the 
turkey would go up, we thought we might as well 



272 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

have a finger in the pie as anybody, so we began 
to caucus, too, and in ten minutes the plot was 
complete. In my room a half dozen States were 
represented, but in the one just across the hall 
from us were only Missourians, and the two rooms 
were upon intimate terms of friendship and sym- 
pathy. We had a cooking stove in our room and 
a big, tin boiler, and they had a large table. 
They were to steal the much coveted biped, we 
were to conceal and cook it, and all hands eat it 
Christmas day on their table. 

" Faint heart never won fair lady," and besides 
time was precious, for many a Spartan band were 
making ready to charge upon and " gobble up " 
the good old gobbler. Lieutenant Maris, who was 
lately mentioned as having the rat fight with 
Captain Furnish, was our bravest Spartan of all, 
for, with Colonel Printup's ample talma and two- 
story slouch hat, he took a bee-line diagonally 
across the pen to where the turkey was, gently, 
but quickly, lowered it from the nail, under the 
cloak the gobbler went and around the corner 
Maris vanished, and, by a zig-zag route through 
the swarm of rebels, reached our quarters, no one 
even recognizing him except we, us and company. 
We laid him (the turkey) down to rest till morn- 
ing, and " all was quiet on the Potomac," but it 
was not thusly at Thompson's headquarters. It 
seems that he knew of the conspiracy up to de 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 273 

prive him of liis turkey-fowl, and liad taken po- 
sition over by tlie hospital, opposite his institu- 
tion, to watch and catch him who might dare to 
lay hands on his treasure. Lord Thompson saw 
the inanimate creature vanish, and started in pur- 
suit instanter, but, in hunters' phrase, the fox 
doubled on liim, and he soon gave up the chase in 
bewilderment. 

The night passed on ; Thompson was sad and 
we were happy. The morning came, and when 
the first rays of the great day-god kissed the 
bosom of the placid lake, our turkey was boiling 
away. While we were eating our frugal Christ- 
mas breakfast, in stepped Captain — I forget who 
— but remember that his thermometer indicated 
essence of corn within. He politely stammered 
out that Mr. Thompson had understood that his 
turkey was in our room, and requested him to 
come over and ask for it. At once we were aston- 
ished and* 'indignant at the very idea, and told 
him to tell Mr. Thompson if he had any busi- 
ness with us to come and transact it himself, that 
we didn't care about dealing with agents. He 
said his mission was a peaceful one, and he did 
not want to be insulted ; and we replied that 
neither did we want to be insulted by being 
charged with robbery. All this time Mr. Gobbler 
was blubbering away in the boiler hard by. The 

18 



274 CAMP, FIELD AND PRTSOISr LIFE. 

adage that " fortune favors the brave " hit our 
nail exactly on the head. 

Major Scoville had, early that morning, pre- 
sented our room with a turkey for a Christmas 
dinner, and his name was on the label attached to 
its feet. "With triumphal air we produced it, and 
told Mr, Captain where it came from, but that we 
could not vouch for whether he stole it from 
Thompson or not. He begged our pardon and 
departed, fully satisfied that the charge against 
us had no foundation in fact. As the hours 
rolled gladly by we were making appropriate do- 
mestic arrangements to do justice to the fatted 
fowl. Nor did we covet company one bit that 
day, but every now and then an unwelcome guest 
would drop in. 

Dinner time came on ; the Missourians had 
their table spread with all the queensware, cut- 
lery and tin cups of both rooms, Mr. Turkey oc- 
cupied the center of the board, and was the cen- 
ter of attraction. About fourteen of us did am- 
ple justice to all the stuffing and meat that clus- 
tered about his carcass, and we had a sure- enough 
preacher to say Amen, it being no other than the 
veritable Colonel Lewis that I have mentioned 
elsewhere. He enjoyed the thing from first to 
last, and said it was the best joke of the season, 
to which we unanimously replied. Amen. 

Gentle reader, or ungentle reader, don't pre- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 275 

snme this to be an imaginary sketch, for that 
preacher, who afterward went South and was 
made a brigadier-general, will stand by every 
word of it. Now, how many of the world will 
vote that, considering the circumstances, it was a 
good joke well played, and how many will con- 
demn us ? " Nous verrons.'^'' 

Sheridan had routed and almost comx^letely 
demolished Early's army on the 19tli of Septem- 
ber, and the whole North was jubilant over the 
matter, thinking it could never be resurrected, 
and on the 27th our post commandant ordered 
one hundred guns to be fired in honor of the 
event. At that date Price and Shelby were 
advancing into Missouri, N. B. Forrest was going 
into Middle Tennessee, and gold was rating 
at 185. 

For the 29th I transcribe from my memoran- 
dum book : " Short rations ; hungry men ; grum- 
bling ; two rebs. fight at the cook-house — one of 
them gets hurt ; I chief cook this week ; Price 
and Forrest doing execution." The next morning 
I noted down, " We ha(J biscuit for breakfast. 
I made a mistake ; we had five biscuit apiece, 
instead of three.'' 

Now, in our room, each fellow cooked a week 
at a time, the cook for the time being having sole 
charge of that department, no one having a right 
to interfere as to when, how or what was cooked. 



276 CAMP, FIELD AND PKISOX LIFE. 

But each one took a pride in being prompt, 
cleanly and getting up the best dishes possible 
from our frugal stock of supplies. If we got a 
fifty-pound sack of flour we had biscuit twice a 
week, but if a twenty -five-pound sack, we usually 
had wheat bread Sunday morning. We did not 
sub-divide our rations, as did many rooms, but 
the cook generally aimed to make an equal num- 
ber of biscuits for every member of the mess. 
That morning I made five apiece (small ones), but 
told the fellows there were only three. Each one 
made way with his portion and was satisfied, but, 
when told that there were two more for every 
mother's son of them, they were glad as if they 
had been golden dollars. "We enjoj^ed every 
morsel we got to eat. 

About the 1st of October I learned from home 
that a number of our neighbors (who were loyal 
like myself) had been drafted to fight for the 
Union. And the same letter said that our negro 
boys, George and Armstead, had ran off to a 
recruiting station at " Camp Nelson, Kentucky." 
Deluded beings ! they left a good and comfortable 
home in search of thoughted freedom, and very 
soon were both in the grave. 

All along in the first days of October the Fede- 
rals were " pegging away " close to Richmond, 
and Price had Missouri in a blaze. In the after- 
noon of the 4th I took some stewed peaches to 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 277 

Parson Ash, and some flaxseed for a ponltice to 
Capt. Morgan— both in the hospital. The former 
was a resident of my county ; the latter one of 
my chums in Block 4. The Rev. Mr. Ash was 
suffering from general debility, and Capt. Morgan 
from the effects of a rusty nail stuck in his foot 
the night of the storm. That night Capt. Brooks, 
Post Quartermaster, died, and the flag hung at 
half mast all next day. 

The prison carpenter, who was working inside 
the yard on the 6th, left a wide plank leaning 
against the wall near Block 1. A gentleman who 
had been raised and educated in, and was bat- 
tling for, Louisiana, spied it, and at night, with 
the necessary implements, evacuated the pen, 
leaving a hole beneath the fence under that 
plank. In two weeks he wrote to his friends, 
congratulating himself at the good luck in find- 
himself in Canada. 

October 8th was cold, rainy, sleety and snowy, 
and the Feds, began to issue wood to the whole 
prison that day. Several prisoners came in — 
among them my old schoolmate, Captain Henry 
Armant, aid-de-camp on General Heth's staff — and 
fifty sick left for the cotton States. The next day 
our room bought from the sutler a lamp, with fix- 
tures and two gallons of coal oil, for $8.00. 

For October 10th my diary reads : " Burbridge 
thrashed out at Saltville, Virginia; lots of his 



278 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

Africans slain ; figlit at block 9 ; Colonel Printnp 
gets sugar, coffee and lard throngli Colonel Sco- 
ville." 

When the prison was first built on Johnson's 
Island, in the spring of 1862, W. S. Pierson was 
Major commanding post, and E. A. Scoville was 
Captaiu in command of a company. During the 
summer of 1863 Pierson was promoted to Lieut.- 
Colonel and Scoville to Major. When the "Hoff- 
man Battalion " was increased to a regiment and 
called the 128th Ohio, Charles W. Hill was made 
Colonel, Pierson resigned, Scoville took his place 
and rank, and Captain Thomas H. Linnell was 
made Major of said regiment. 

A general search was made through the prison 
on tlie 14th for saws and axes that had come up 
missing. During such searches (we being under 
guard out in the yard), various little articles were 
supposed to have been purloined by the light- 
fingered Northern gentry, and so, to keep along 
even with the Yanks, we had to "play possum," 
One fellow in each room would invariablj^ get sick 
and be in bed on such occasions. 

The Confederates had now recaptured Rome, 
Georgia, and " Old Pap Price " was at Boonville, 
Mo. Considerable express matter was coming in, 
and that evening Lieut. Wilson, of Georg.a, pre- 
sented us with some parched coffee. If the reader 
will keep a sharp lookout, there will, before long, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 279 

be found a place where Wilson was highly com- 
plimented, kinder like our friend Thompson was. 
All jokes are said to be free in harvest times, and 
why not as well in Christmas times ? 

Major Person, in the name of Lieut. Lotspiech, 
got a nice box of good things to eat from his 
cousin, Mrs. Madeira, of Covington, Kentucky, on 
the 17th October, and, as what one received we 
all received, the whole household was heartily 
glad. The succeeding day Maj.-Gen. Trimble and 
Brig -Gens. Beall, Jones and Frazier were removed 
from our prison to Fort Warren. Hood's army 
was now between Dalton and Bridgeport, Price 
was at Lexington, Missouri, and gold was at 220. 
Pestiferous bands of marauders were still carry- 
ing a bold front all over Kentucky, the authorities 
seeming utterly unable, by terrible warnings, to 
dissipate them. 

On the 23d of October we had codfish and flour 
issued to us instead of pork and baker's bread — 
some liked the change, some didn't, it being utterly 
impossible to please all. For the 24th my diary 
reads : My birthday ; I have been in the army 
38 months ; we had ham, coffee and biscuit for 
breakfast." During the last days of October Price 
was about Fort Scott, Hood in Walker county, 
Georgia, and all was quiet along the James and 
Potomac. And along about those times Lieut. 
Clark and I were spending many pleasant hours 



280 CAMP, FIELD A]?fD PRISON LIFE. 

up in our little studio poring over the Castiliali 
language. We had at first a German, who had 
resided in Mexico, for a preceptor, but we did not 
like him, and concluded to go it alone. 

November, 1864, opened in a most auspicious 
manner for room 19, block 4, Johnson's Island, 
Ohio. On the first day Lieut. Oliver Clark got 
flour, ham, coffee, dried fruit and butter from 
Richmond, Kentucky, and per the same express 
Colonel Printup received a jug of six year old 
whisky, and one of claret wine, all contraband, 
but Colonel Scoville let him have it— /or medical 
•purposes^ of course. 

We were happy that evening, and my diary 
says : " Old Pap got drunk." Old Pap was Tom 
Stevenson, a native of Woodford county, Ken- 
tucky, but latterly from St. Joseph, Missouri, and 
he had been on Johnson's Island since September, 
1862, held as a suspected spy. He says that Gen. 
Price sent him to Kentucky to look around, and 
that they took him in out of the weather at Ver- 
sailles. The first six months of my stay up North 
he w-as our postmaster and tailor, and, being a 
vain, pompous, eccentric, spluttering fellow, every- 
body knew " Old Pap," and had something to say 
to him. He was acquainted with all our room, 
and Colonel P., knowing that he admired the 
•critter to desperation, invited him over to take a 
.social glass with us. He came, he saw, and it 



CAMP, FIELD AND PKISON LIFE. 281 

conquered, not exactly verifying Csesar's laconic 
dispatch, " Veni, mdi, vicV 

We had not yet reached the end of our string 
of good luck, for on the 3d Major Person received 
a splendid box from his wife at Memphis. Among 
many other goodly items was a bushel of sweet 
potatoes, and, as I noted down in my little book 
that evening, " we were in town with a pocket full 
of rocks." It was some supposed terrible ailment 
that produced each one of these boxes, for a well 
man was not allowed to send for anything. 

Maj. -General Marmaduke, Brig. -General Cabell, 
and four Colonels from Price's army arrived at 
our headquarters on the 6tli, and General Price 
was now retreating from Missouri at double quick 
time before the legions of Federal cavalry concen- 
trated on him. All along about that time gold 
was ranging from 245 to 256, and the weather was 
cool and changeable. 

The 8th of November was election day for 
President of the United States, and the whole 
Abolition and Copperhead press was teeming 
with charges of fraud, and the Federal authori- 
ties were very much alarmed about threatened 
raids all along the Canada border. Troops were 
stationed at many of the border towns, and a 
General assigned to the special duty of looking 
after the Federal interests along that front. 

I copy from my diary : "November 9th, much 



282 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

wind and rain ; sudden change of temperature. 
lOtli — Sherman reported moving on Charleston ; 
Hood in Middle Tennessee. 11th — Forty of Gen. 
Price's officers arrive. 14tli — Snow, but pleasant 
weather. 16th — Sherman's movements mysteri- 
ous." 

I received a letter from Kentucky on the 20th, 
saying that the guerrillas were troublesome about 
my native haunts, but that it did not prevent the 
})eople from marrying. The same day we had 
letters from East Tennessee, through which I 
learned of the whereabout of several members 
of my company that I had lost sight of. From it 
I learned that Wm. Holloway, who went to prison 
Avith us, and, after eighteen months' captivity, had 
started home sick, died at Bristol, Tenn. Will, 
was a good boy and a good soldier, though his 
neighbors at home told me he was disloyal and 
would not do to trust. I did not conceal from him 
what I had heard of his character, and he seemed 
to take a pride in being faithful and honorable ; 
and such was the case with several others that 
had been reported to me as not just the right 
thing. 

It was about the 21st of November that Breck- 
enridge gave Gillam a terrible beating at Morris- 
town, Tennessee. His wagon train and artillery, 
with many men, were captured, and almost his 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 283 

wliole army scattered and flew, pell-mell, to Knox- 
ville. 

November 2Bd was a very cold day, and the 
bay froze over, I employed Captain Lattner, of 
Louisiana, who had a machine, to do my washing, 
and my diary records that the whereabout of 
Sherman are yet mj^sterious. The fact is that he had 
left Gen. Thomas to take care of Hood, and, cut- 
ting loose from all base, struck out on one of the 
boldest campaigns of the war, Charleston or Sa- 
vannah being his objective point. 

It was about this era that General Burbridge 
was having guerrillas shot by the wholesale, and 
not unfrequently regular Confederate soldiers were 
led out and cruelly executed, in retaliation for 
the depredations and crimes of outlaws. There 
was a reign of terror and bloodshed in Kentucky ; 
may the like of which never come again. 

On the 26th my old friends, Major Wm. Smith, 
62d Tennessee, and Captain Levi Mobly, 26th 
Tennessee, arrived at our little home in the lake. 
That was a memorable, exciting day. Some time 
previous a thousand bales of cotton had been 
sent from Mobile to New York to be sold, the 
proceeds to be spent for clothing, blankets and 
provisions for the rebel prisoners up North, 
Brigadier-General W. N. R. Beall, C. S. A., was 
selected to buy and distribute said articles, his 
headquarters being at New York. He issued a 



284 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

circular to all the prisons, requesting them to 
choose a commissioner to receive and distribute 
what was sent to each place. 

The office seemed to be desirable, for the ex- 
pectation was that the agent would get many fa- 
vors and privileges not accorded to his fellow-sin- 
ners. A number of candidates offered, and wire- 
working and electioneering began straightway. 
On the evening of election we had speeclies of 
every grade — sensible, foolish, grave, humorous 
and witty. Colonel John A. Fife, who has been 
before mentioned as President of the " rat club," 
got the position by long odds, and most every- 
body thought he was the right man, for he had 
been our very efficient chief commissary, and was 
not afraid to talk to the Yanks, or even curse 
them a little, if it was necessary to get our dues. 

I sat up with the sick at hospital in ward 4 on 
the night of the 28th. Hood was now before 
Franklin, Tennessee, and Sherman's movements 
were no longer mysterious, he having taken pos- 
session of Milledgeville, Georgia. He was now 
several hundred miles from any base, in the heart 
of a hostile country, with 70,000 men, and many 
of the Confederate leaders pretended to think that 
his doom was fixed, but he managed to reach the 
sea coast, thus showing to the world what can be 
done where there is a determination. I will not 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 285 

speak of the unworthy, unchristian incidents con- 
nected with that " march to the sea." Would 
that all such could be blotted from the pages of 
history and from our memories ; then we would 
be happier. 



286 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 



CHAPTER XIY. 



In Jail, July 12, 1S65. 

Tlie past few days have been extremely hot, 
and this abode has not added very much to the 
comfort of such weather, but I have withstood so 
mucli that I conclude I can bear up under any- 
thing that would not kill a mule. From my rela- 
tive situation, being directly between the court- 
house and printing office, it would seem that I 
ought to be able to get justice. Mr. Grissom, of 
the Jonesboro Umon Flag, thinks that justice to 
rebels is persecution and suffering equal to what 
the Union people here have undergone, no matter 
at whose hands. He grossly prevaricated and 
magnified the cause and manner of ' my arrest, 
but I won't say any more about it here, for I hap- 
pen to remember that it is sometimes best for a 
fellow " not to wliistle till he is out of the woods." 

Now let us travel back to the first days of last 
December. M}' note book says there was a big 
fight at Franklin, Tennessee, and that Thomas 
had fallen back on Nashville. On the 7th one 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOX LIFE. 287 

hundred officers taken at Franklin were bronglit 
into prison. I listened to tlie story of the battle 
from many of them, and it was surely the most 
fearful and terrible struggle of the war. At one 
time a long column of Confederates pressed up 
to the very earthworks of the Federals, but could 
not scale them, and there the contending parties 
laid within a few feet of each other, 'shooting 
over the embankment at random. The Southern 
troops were not reinforced, and had to surrender, 
as ever}^ one who attempted to retreat was shot 
down. In that battle the noble, gallant, beloved 
Pat. Cleburne gave up his life. 

About the first of the month Adjutant Frank 
Clewel, 1st Missouri cavalry, who had made sev- 
eral daring but futile attempts to escape, got a 
special exchange, and at night of the day he left 
two of the " Southern chivalry " scratched out at 
the end of Block 1, but were taken in, and a new 
lamp put up there to caution them against repeat- 
ing the risk of so unpleasant a defeat. 

The end of Block 1 was rather a famous place, 
perhaps fifty diff*erent rebels having tried to 
escaxDe there. And it was a place of resort to 
witness dress-parade, look at visitors to the 
island, and whatever was going on about head- 
quarters. Full many a pleasing hour have I 
whiled away at that point, watching the move- 
ments of the world without. 



288 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE, 

The 8th was an extremely cold day, and we 
could almost see the body of ice grow as it 
extended itself over the bay, and there were three 
inches of sno\v on the ground. Colonel Matlock, 
of Arkansas, died on the lOtli. Along about 
that period of our captivity. Colonel Hill was 
becoming more popular among the prisoners by 
issuing rtiore reasonable orders and being more 
consistent generally. 

President Lincoln's message was now before 
the country. He seemed to have issued it more 
as a matter of form than anything else, as no 
new theory or policy was enunciated, but he 
referred to his former messages and proclama- 
tions as still the rule of his faith and action. 
Chase had just been made Chief Justice and 
Speed Attorney-General. 

The 12th day of December was the coldest, so 
far, of the season. That forenoon Col. Scoville 
was in our room, " about three sheets in the 
wind," and quite jovial. I observed to him that 
if I had about half that he had under his shirt it 
would make us both feel better. Said he : " It is 
a splendid time to take on a little, and, if I don't 
forget it, I will bring you fellows in a drop after 
dinner." After a little prison chit-chat and some 
pleasant jokes he left the room, we not expecting 
to see him again for, probably, several days, but 
about 3 p. M. in popped Mr. Scoville again. We 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 289 

liad several visitors ; lie said lie wanted to see tlie 
members of the room privately, and tliey left, we 
snpposing it was some warning or special news 
for us, but he simply hauled out a bottle filled 
from the j ug under the bed in his quarters, which 
jug I had tapped in the summer of 1863. He just 
remarked that we must keep the thing dark. 
Were I given to lying, this would certainly be 
classed among the untruths, but it's a fact, and 
one more incident showing that we had some 
generous Abolition foes. 

The night of the 12th was almost as memorable 
and alarming as that of the storm. At about two 
o'clock in the night some thirty rebels attempted 
to scale the wall in rear of the hospital. They 
had prepared themselves with nearly a dozen 
ladders, some clubs, rocks and one or two pistols, 
and all started at the same time for the fence, one 
hundred yards in rear of the hospital. The moon 
was shining bright as day, the sentinels saw 
them, and a half-dozen concentrated where they 
aimed to strike the fence. Hostilities commenced 
immediately ; several rebels got to the top of the 
wall, but were knocked back, and one Federal 
was hurled from the parapet. 

Some fifty musket and pistol shots were fired, 

but, miraculously, only one man was killed. 

Lieutenant Boles, of Louisville, Kentucky, was 

shot from a ladder half-way up the wall. But 
19 



290 CAMP, FIELD ATTD PRISOI^ LIFE. 

few of the prisoners were aware that such a 
break was contemplated, and it may be believed 
that we were terrified by being aroused from our 
slumbers by such a racket right in our midst. In 
a little while the whole garrison was out, and a 
number of cannon were fired, evidently to make 
us lie still. That dried up all talk about charg- 
ing the fence. 

The next day a prisoner fell from the platform 
of Block 9 and was mortally injured, and that 
evening I noticed four corpses in the dead-house. 
My notes for the 16th are : " General Beall in 
New York — issues a circular to Confederate pris- 
oners to find out their most pressing wants as to 
clothing and provisions ; we almost a unit for 
grub ; exchange going on at Charleston ; Sher- 
man fighting in front of Savannah ; Warren 
makes another raid on the Weldon railroad ; 
Nashville besieged." 

• On the 16th our mail came over on the ice, 
Hood and Thomas were fighting at Nashville, 
and Colonel Boles, 2d Kentucky cavalry, was 
elected to assist Colonel Fite. 

I will here say that, after all the talking and 
fixing, never a rag nor a morsel had we received 
when I left Johnson's Island, the last of the suc- 
ceeding February, though some clothing had been 
received at other prisons. 

It was the 18th that we heard that Hood had 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISO]^ LIFE. 291 

been defeated, with a heavy loss of men and 
artillery, and was retreating. His army was 
almost ruined during his Middle Tennessee cam- 
paign. The next day the loyal people cut a port- 
hole in the wall at the southwest corner of the 
prison yard, for our benefit, of course. At about 
that time they commenced the erection of a large 
fort on the island, northwest of the prison ; also 
another at the southwest, on the highest point of 
land, and about the center of the island. Their 
proceedings seemed to indicate a want of faith 
both in us and the people over north of Lake Erie ; 
and who that knew of the immediate past could 
blame them? 

The 22d was snowy, windy, and bitter cold, 
th§ thermometer being many degrees below the 
freezing point, which makes anything but a 
pleasant state of weather. That day Captain 
Sanford, Inspector Grenerkl, came round to deter- 
mine the number of blankets in prison, and who 
had them. Now came a necessity for a little 
juggling, as we anticipated that his aim was to 
take away from those who had more, and give 
to those who had less, than a prescribed number. 
My bunk mate and I had each a pair of our own 
besides the government allowance. We were 
sure that was over the general average, so we 
took off and hid a part of them till the inspection 
was over. 



292 CAMP, FIELD AWD PEISON LIFE. 

Tlie temperature next morning was no better, 
and the sergeant was allowed to call tlie roll in 
our quarters. That day Lieutenant Lear, who had 
been kicked out of block 11 for stealing, was al- 
lowed by the prison superintendent to make him- 
self a little cuddy-hole in one end of our gar- 
ret loft. It seems that he did not steal from 
necessity, for he had i)lenty, but it was his natural 
inclination, and he was known to capture little 
things after going there. No one who would as- 
sociate with him was respected. 

The succeeding day 280 of Hood's officers, taken 
about Nashville, came over on the ice to reinforce 
our already populous garrison. Among them 
were Major-General Ed. Johnson and Brigadier- 
Generals Henry R. Jackson and Tom Smith, the 
last almost a boy. The whole crew of them gave 
evident signs of hardships and suffering, many 
being almost destitute of clothing. All the old 
prisoners who had surplus clothes were requested 
to divide with them, and a generous, sympa- 
thizing spirit was displayed, the recipients, in 
many cases, hardly knowing how to express their 
gratitude. 

That day we took into our room Lieutenant 
Fite, of Memphis, and Lieut. Yarbrough, of Geor- 
gia, both of them proving congenial room mates. 
And that day Colonel Scoville came in and took 
Colonel Printup to dine with him. For a rebel to 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE 293 

eat on tlie outside was a rare privilege, seldom 
granted. We tliouglit and we talked a heap about, 
but couldn't prepare mucli for, Christmas.. 

At Christmas of the preceding year we were, 
many of us, in good lix to enjoy the holidays, 
as there were but few restrictions from receiving 
anything from our friends up North. But the 
latter days of 1864 were almost "dry as a powder 
horn." On the former occasion there were lots of 
good things to eat, and a right smart sprinkle of 
something to exhilarate the inner man ; on the 
latter both were almost " scarce as hen's teeth." 

For Christmas day I copy from my diary : 
" Old Pap comes over for a dram (though he don't 
say so), but it is like trying to coax blood 
out of a turnip — Colonel Mike Woods, 46th Ala- 
bama, gets a special exchange — Yankee chaplain 
brings in good things for sick rebels — nobody 
drunk, for the best of reasons — I am on cook detail 
this week — we had ham and biscuit for breakfast, 
pudding for dinner, and will have " fish in the 
dab " to-morrow morning — I made "fish in the 
dab " out of our lake shad, and all the scraps of 
bread, meat, onions, &c., that we had, conglom- 
erated into a batter and fried or baked. I flavored 
it with sage and pepper, and the boys said they 
didn't want anything better. We never wasted 
an ounce of anything edible. 

A goodly number of express boxes was deliv- 



294 CAMP, FIELD AjN^D PRISON LIFE. 

ered in prison on the 27tli, some of them without 
permit, and that day the post commandant issued 
an order suppressing from 2:)rison the New York 
News, Chicago Times and Cincinnati Enquirer, 
they being Coj)perhead, almost rebel, papers. 
Sherman liad now taken Savannah, and " Beast 
Butler'''' and Admiral Porter were hammering 
away at Wilmington. About that date the rebel 
General Lyon cut the Louisville and ISTashville 
Railroad at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and Glen. 
McCook was after him. 

On the 30th a number of rebels applied to work 
on the forts for the sake of getting full rations, as 
such a course was being pursued at other prisons. 
Gold was then at 216. I had just got through my 
S})anish grammar, and had spent most of the 
Christmas reading a novel written in French, and 
entitled " Rosa, or Filial Piety." 

Now, for the closing hours of the year I will 
transcribe from my diary : " 31st December — last 
day of the old year ; mighty dry Christmas ; Col. 
Printup Ills a box on the outside and I one in 
anticipation ; prison superintendent has on a full 
load of ' eaii de Die ;' weather moderate ; Yankees 
skating ; our prospects for another j^ear's sojourn 
excellent. Good-bye 1864." 

But something took place during the small 
dying hours of the year which, though I took no 
note of it, I can not forget. Lieutenant Wilson, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 295 

of General Frazier's staff at Cumberland Gap, and 
who belonged to tlie same regiment as Colonel 
Printnp and Lieutenant Clark of my room, had 
gone to the hospital as a nurse for the sake of 
something good to eat. N'ow, Lieutenant W. was 
all sorts of an antic, jolly fellow, and had a rooster 
chicken which he had raised around the hospital. 
We often talkf^d to him about purloining his fowl, 
but he said we could not steal it in the day time 
and that it roosted so close to the sentinel's beat 
that we were afraid to go for it after night, so he 
was not uneasy. 

After supper on the 31st we were discussing 
what we should have for a New Year's dinner. 
Some one proposed Wilson's chicken ; " agreed," 
vociferated all hands ; but then came the 'question, 
" who was to bell the cat ?" We discussed the 
matter in all shapes till bed time, when it was 
agreed that Colonel P. should furnish his large 
talma cloak as a disguise and covering, that I 
should seize the prey, and Lieutenant Clark dress 
and cook it. 

The other boys went to bed, not to sleep, and I 
sat in the dark by the stove till the sentinel cried 
out, " half-past ten o'clock and all is well." Then 
I donned the apparel of somebody else and started 
out on my errand, the boys giggling and saying 
they would come to my rescue if a gun was fired. 
Boldness was my game now. I went to the hos- 



296 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

pital, where lights were allowed to burn all night, 
surveyed matters, and, as it aj^peared that " all 
was well," struck a bee-line for Mr. Rooster's 
pole. The sentinel, supposing me to be one of 
the hospital attendants, scarcely noticed me. 
Mr. Chicken said something, I didn't take time 
to listen what it was, but, giving his neck a twist 
and a squeeze, and tucking him under the ample 
folds of my " Scotch plaid cloak," I retreated in 
good order through the hospital to room 19, block 
4, where the boys piled up encomiums on my 
valor, and the beauty, fatness and goodness of 
Lieutenant Wilson's last chicken. 

We had hot water in the j)ot on our stove, 
Clark bounced up to his business, and we tried to 
have a li*ttle light on the subject by kindling 
a small blaze in the stove, but the guard yelled 
forth, " Put out that light in Block 4." So, in 
pitchy darkness, we picked, cut up and salted 
away our game. Thinking Wilson might miss 
his fowl and get out a search warrant, we con- 
cluded to make the first meal of the new year on 
fried chicken. By daylight we were up and 
doing, and when tlie sun came peeping into our 
prison home toe could exclaim, " chicken enough," 
nor was there a bone, feather or other vestige left 
to indicate that violence had been committed 
within the realms of our little kingdom. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 



297 



CHAPTER XV. 



JoNBSBORO, East Tennkssek, ") 
July 13, 1S65. i 

What I write hereafter must be from memory, 
as I took no notes of transpiring events after 1864. 
The montlis of January and February were in 
many respects similar to the same period the pre- 
ceding year. Though our aggregate number was 
increased one-fourth, the amount of siclvness had 
decreased, and the hospital comforts and accom- 
modations were much improved, and our rations 
of wood were better, both in quantity and quality. 
The large rooms in most of the blocks were cut 
up into smaller ones, and the number of stoves 
in prison greatly increased; the majority of us 
having spent one winter there, were somewhat 
acclimated, and had a better supply of blankets 
and clothing. 

All in all, I passed the winter off quite agree- 
ably ; in fact, I was never much bothered over my 
Johnson's Island imprisonment, for, during a stay 
of twenty-one months, I was never sick enough to 



298 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

go to the hospital, and was seldom troubled by 
the gnawings of hunger or home sickness, which 
were general complaints. I was most alwa3^s em- 
ployed at one thing or another, and never failed 
to bathe all over twice a week in summer and 
once a week during the winter, hot or cold, rain 
or shine To that I mainly attributed my good 
health, and for my comparative state of con- 
tentment I felt that I was indebted to the fact of 
keeping my physical and mental powers em- 
ployed and absorbed in the present, instead of 
indulging in miserable idleness and longings for 
what could not be obtained. 

It was, perhaps, the first of February that Gen. 
Grant was called before the Cabinet and Congress 
to give his testimony and views about the ex- 
change question, which resulted in his being 
empowered to prosecute an exchange of prisoners 
at discretion. So many attempts at a general 
exchange, which we all thought would succeed, 
having failed, very many of us had become in- 
credulous to anything we saw or heard on the 
subject. 

As a matter of policy by the Federal Govern- 
ment, all exchange — except a partial one of sick 
and wounded and a few specials — had been 
staved off for nearly two years, and now not less 
than a hundred thousand Northern and Southern 
soldiers were undergoing the sufferings and cruel- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE, 299 

ties of prison life, wliicli were greatly augmented 
by a barbarous system of retaliation inaugurated 
by both sides. The prisoners had prayed, and 
the people had prayed, in vain for an exchange, 
and thousands of the poor, deceived patriots 
breathed their last in prison walls. No less than 
fourteen thousand Federal dead now lie at Ander- 
sonville, Georgia, alone, and the bones of thou- 
sands of brave, noble Southern j^ouths are to-day 
mouldering around " Camp Chase, " Camp Doug- 
las" and other prison j)ens of the North. ^ And I 
remember that we left many a little mound on 
Johnson's Isle. Sleep on, noble comrades and 
kind friends, till the Master bids you rise and 
appear at the Judgment bar with us all ! 

A gradual exchange commenced about the 
middle of February. The commanders of the 
various prisons in the North were ordered to 
make out rolls of prisoners in detachments of 
five hundred, taking first, as a matter of policy, 
those from the States of Missouri, Kentucky, 
Arkansas and Louisiana. The Confederate offi- 
cers were to be taken in squads of one hundred, 
according to priority of capture. 

I will not undertake to describe the state of 
feeling on Johnson's Island about that time. Just 
imagine a lot of men who have been in prison 
from one to two years, and now inflated with the 
hope and prospect of a ride to Dixie-land ; then 



300 CAMP, FIELD AND PRTSOlSr LIFE. 

tliink of a host of others wlio have not been 
incarcerated so long and know they can not go 
for, perhaps, several months yet, and yon may 
have a dim conception of the reality. One hnn- 
dred officers were shipped from our prison on the 
18th, and the same number on the 21st of Febru- 
ary ; among them nearly all the officers of my 
regiment. 

The scene reminded me of the parting of stu- 
dents at the close of a collegiate year. Friends 
were saying good-bye, never to meet again, and 
many pleasant, happy associations and ties were 
being severed forever, but the regrets at saying 
farewell were less visible, since, much as we 
liked the presence of our friends, we were hajipy 
with them, because they were going home to Dixie, 
Even yet I was not confident that I would go, and 
neither built hopes nor made preparations for a 
change of base. 

A roll of two hundred was made out on the 23d, 
and the next morning they bade us adieu. Almost 
every man captured previous to or at the time of 
myself had now gone, and I began to feel anxious 
in the matter. All those who had left had to walk 
to Sandusky on the ice, and, as it was getting 
warm and cloudy, with a prospect of the ice break- 
ing up, Col. Hill concluded to get another batch 
of one hundred over tlie ice bridge before night, 
to which end all hands and enerMes were set to 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISO?^ LIFE. 301 

work. The officer of the day, with a list of per- 
haps a dozen names, wouki come in and call them 
out, when the fortunate ones would rush anxiously 
to the small gate, where tlie}^ were received by a 
corporal's guard and escorted to headquarters to 
settle their accounts and sign a parole not to at- 
tempt escape en route South. 

My name was not called till two p. m., and at 
four we had to leave the island. In those two 
hours I had a hundred things to do and have done, 
and was almost too full of excitement to do any- 
thing. I had dwelt there so long it was like a 
family fixing up all in an hour to move far away. 
And, though I wanted to be free and see my 
friends in the South, I hated to leave my prison 
associates, and cut short off the pleasing corres- 
pondence I was having with my friends at home 
and elsewhere. I felt attached to my room, my 
books, ray bunk and our rustic furniture, and I 
experienced a like feeling for the very prison and 
even some of the Federal garrison. I parted with 
them all with the same feelings that I would say 
farewell to my companions of the camp and field 
to go to my maternal home. For my room mates 
and my mess mates I felt a special attachment, 
and wherever I may meet them along life's jour- 
ney it will be with a brotherly feeling in my 
heart. May they prosper and be happy. 

At 4 o'clock we had said good-bye to all in 



302 CAMP, FIELD AJ7D PRISON LIFE. 

prison, and with our blankets and little wallets 
of clothing and prison mementoes, such as pic- 
tures, letters and prison jewelry, were out in the 
garrison square receiving rations, and those of 
us who had been so fortunate as to have the ac- 
quaintance and good will of some of the Federals, 
bidding them adieu, promising to treat them well 
if we ever caught them down in Dixie land. 

The sick and crippled, with the heavier baggage, 
were hauled across on ice sleighs, and we were 
strung along for nearly half a mile over the crys- 
tal ice of the deep bay. "We encountered several 
air holes, and about the center of the bay was 
one varying from twenty to fifty feet in width 
and nearly a mile in length. It was bridged with 
j)lanks, like a creek on dry land, and it may be 
well imagined that we felt rather ticklish in 
crossing such a place, our only possible consola- 
tion being that if we went under the blue coats 
would go with us. We had a merry trip, several 
fellows breaking through, and many of them get- 
ting heavy falls. The distance from our island 
home to Sandusky city was three miles, and did 
not look even that far, but when we had walked 
it over the ice it appeared seven long ones. 

That night we stayed in the depot car shed at 
Sandusky, and the next morning at daylight left 
for Mansfield, Ohio, where we arrived at noon, 
overtaking the two hundred who had started the 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOlSr LIFE. 303 

morning before, and we felt as glad to see each 
other as though we had been parted a year, for in- 
deed we thought that our adieus at the island 
were final. As we passed through the little towns 
in Ohio, Federal soldiers, who had been enjoying 
the ill- com forts of " Libby " and other Southern 
prisons, would come up, take a peep at us, then 
curse the rebel government and all pertaining to 
it, and almost cry with madness because we 
seemed to have fared better than they did. The 
boys would laugh at them and turn everything 
they said into a joke, telling them it was " no use 
to grieve over spilt milk." 

"We had to lay over at Mansfield half a day, 
waiting for a train on the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne 
and Chicago railroad. Lieutenant Reno, of the 
128tli Ohio, with about twenty men, had charge 
of our detachment, and they proved themselves 
clever, obliging, first-rate fellows. At Mansfield, 
though a nominal guard was kept around us, we 
went when and where we pleased, and drank 
what we liked best. Tlie boys in gray and the 
boys in blue would imbibe together till they got 
somewhat mellow, then Mr. Yank would stack his 
gun in the corner of the car, and they would 
manfully argue the question of "Union or no 
Union," each having the privilege of swearing a 
little, and the closina; scene would often be a 



304 CAMP, FIELD AND PIMSOIST LIFE. 

hearty shake hands and a mutual agreement to 
disagree. 

At dusk the 300 of us left, arrivmg in Pitts- 
burg at 7 o'clock next morning, where we only 
stopped long enough to change cars. We now 
took passage on the Pennsylvania railroad, and 
traveled on all the Sabbath day, b6ing 195 miles 
from Pittsburg at nightfall, when we came to the 
wreck of a freight train, which was not cleared 
away before next morning, and here we also came 
up with a train loaded with 500 Kentucky soldiers, 
from Camp Douglas, most of them having been 
captured on the Ohio raid. 

The blackened appearance of Pittsburg gave 
evident indications of its vast manufacturing es- 
tablishments, and for fifty miles out from the city 
we saw many coal mines, but which were not 
then being worked much. During the forenoon 
of Sunday we were passing through the Alle- 
ghany mountains, and sometimes would run in 
almost a complete circle, near the summit of lofty 
ranges, and, upon looking from the car windows, 
it would seem as though we were suspended in 
mid-air, hundreds of feet above a yawning abyss, 
studded with rugged cliffs and evergreens, with 
here a and there a drift of snow or an iceberg, 
which, altogether, foi^med a scene at once grand, 
sublime and picturesque 

About midday we passed through a tunnel a 



CAMP, FIELD ANB PRISON LIFE. 305 

mile and a quarter long, on the summit of the 
AUeghanies, and, after running on a down grade 
for two hours, we arrived at Altoona, Pa., at the 
foot of the mountain. We found it to be a flour- 
ishing city planted down in a rugged region ; I 
saw not less than thirty engines there, most of 
them under steam, and the number of cars all 
about was legion. We were to have gotten dinner 
at that point, but had been soldiering too long to 
be mach disappointed at a failure ; however, the 
little bo3^s, girls and old women brought pies, 
cakes, apples and such like in abundance, and 
nobody suffered. 

Our money account at the prison had been kept 
exceedingly straight, and all our funds, both 
greenback and Confederate, were intrusted to the 
officer in charge of us, to be delivered over at the 
point of exchange. But he had the privilege of 
giving out small sums along the route, and Lieut. 
Reno issued quite liberally to the boys, and those 
who had money spent it freely. Unfortunately, 
my financial matters had been mighty tight of 
late, and I was completely " strapped," but friends 
that I had helped along in prison now returned 
the compliment. 

All Sunday evening we were passing through a 
beautiful valley along the shores of the Juniata 
river, whose beauties I had so often seen men- 
tioned and described in fancy and poetic sketches. 
20 



306 CAMP, FIELD A^B PRISON' LIFE. 

Just before niglitfall we passed tliroiio-li Hunting- 
don, a pleasing, thrifty looking town, embossed 
between the mountains on the edge of the "blue 
Juniata." And across this, as well as the Susque- 
hanna river, I saw railroad bridges built by Col. 
E. W. Morgan, of the Kentucky Military Institute, 
which bridges I had drawn under his instructions 
while studying engineering at the Institute. I 
had spent so many hours, da3^s and weeks in 
the study and construction of those bridges that 
almost every dimension, arch, timber, bolt and 
pier seemed familiar and homelike. 

As soon as the wreck in front of us was cleared 
away we rolled on, and Monday noon found us at 
Mifflintown, Pennsjdvania, where we stayed a 
couple of hours, the Southern gentlemen roaming 
almost at will over the town, buying things to 
eat, drink or wear. Many of the fellows ate at a 
hotel for the lirst time in two years, and the Fed- 
, eral officer in charge busied himself in having 
plenty prepared for all who wanted it. Some of 
the disloyal colonels, majors, captains and lieu- 
tenants had a plentiful supply of the "over joy- 
ful," and that day felt bigger than any Yankee 
in Pennsylvania, From the Mifflin Hotel I wrote 
to my mother the first letter that I had had the 
privilege of sealing myself for a long time. 

All Monday afternoon we were along the Sus- 
quehanna, and at sundown were just opposite to, 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 807 

and in siglit of, Harrisbnrg, wliicli presented a 
stately a2:)pearance across tlie broad river, wliicli 
was now filled with slnsli ice. We were now two 
hundred and fifty miles from Pittsburg and sev- 
enty-two miles from Baltimore, our destination. 
The Pennsylvania railroad, over which we had 
just passed, is, perhaps, when viewed in all its 
appointments and surroundings, the best and 
most attractive road in America. It has a double 
track for two hundred and fifty miles, is stone 
ballasted and free from dust all the way, and its 
capital, running stock and business is immense ; 
then it traverses a country filled with ever- vary- 
ing, delightful scenery. 

I can not say much for the agricultural appear- 
ance of the country through which we had been 
passing. At Harrisbnrg we had to wait two 
hours for an opposing passenger train, and, be- 
cause of frequent stops during the night, we did 
not reach Baltimore till daylight. At York, 
Pennsylvania, about three score and ten young 
ladies made their appearance — some to see the 
Rebs. and some to sell pies. Some of the felloAvs 
would quibble over the price of a ten-cent pie for 
a quarter of an hour, just to get to talk to a 
pretty girl. 

I can never forget our — some would call it — 
anti-triumphal march through the streets of Bal- 
timore. About the center of the city we were 



308 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE, 

halted, between two blocks of five-story, palatial, 
granite residences, and from almost every window 
poked the head of a charming secesh lady ; and, 
by the way, Baltimore never boasted man}' of 
any other stripe. So heavily did the tyrant's 
heel press down on the good people of that city 
that they did not dare to speak to ns or exhibit 
any signs of sympath}^, for fear of arrest. But 
the dear ladies way np in the windows would 
mirror the feelings of their hearts in their counte- 
nances and waft us kisses from the tips of their 
fingers, and now and then one would draw forth 
from near her heart a tiny image of the flag dear 
to us all, and wave it but for a moment, sending 
an indescribable thrill through all our hearts. 

One lady, in passing along the sidewalk, recog- 
nized in our ranks a near relative, from whom she 
had been parted for many months. Not daring 
to speak to him, she several times strolled up 
one side and down the other of the street, gazing 
at the loved one; and well do I yet remember 
how fall of sweet and tender sympathy was the 
face of that angelic woman. The provost-mar- 
shal noticed her movements, and in a very inso- 
lent manner ordered her to leave or take her 
place in our ranks as a prisoner. Most of us 
took a mental note of the name and appearance 
of the inhuman wretch, with a view to the future. 

V^e were taken to the wharf, and &till denied 



CAMP, FIELD A]^D PEISON LIFE. o09 

any communication witli the world ; but tlie John- 
son's Island soldiers, who were still with us, 
would pass notes or slip in anything possible. 
In that way Colonel Phillips, of the 52d Georgia, 
got a whole suit, boots and all, from a lady friend. 
About noon a boat loaded with privates left for 
City Point, and two hours later we boarded the 
steamship Cumbria and glided away down Ches- 
a^peake Ba}^ We had a delightful ride over that 
beautiful sheet of water, and never stopped a 
moment till we arrived at the famous City Point, 
about four o'clock next evening. 

We passed some twenty miles off Annapolis, 
Maryland, and could see its towering spires ; then 
we passed within a few hundred feet of Fortress 
Monroe, a point not before unknown, but made 
still more famous by its associations during the 
war. Just in front of Fortress Monroe is a prison, 
built, like Fort Sum^^ter, out in the bosom of the 
deej). It is called the " Rip-raps," and prisoners 
sentenced for life are confined there. It was at 
Fortress Monroe that the celebrated rebel ram 
Merrimac attacked the Federal fleet and aston- 
ished the world by her achievements. 

At the mouth of the James river we saw pro- 
truding from the water the masts of the famous 
Confederate cruiser Florida, which had been sunk 
by the Federals. From there we j)assed over his- 
toric ground every foot of the way to Richmond. 



310 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

City Point was nothing more than a vast military 
encampment, with its multiform appurtenances, 
and there were perhaps a hundred shij^s, sloops, 
brigs and steamboats anchored there, all engaged 
in the Government service. 

At City Point we reported to General Grant, 
and were directed to report to Colonel Mulford, 
"agent of exchange at Harrison's Landing. We 
proceeded up the James till dusk, when the 
knowing ones thought it prudent to cast anchor 
for the night. It did not take us long next morn- 
ing to glide up to that place made famous by 
McClellan's peninsular campaign. About noon 
we left the steamer and bade adieu to our Federal 
comrades. But before parting witli them forever 
I must say a word concerning each. 

The Cumbria had been built in England for a 
blockade-runner, but, after a few trips, was cap- 
tured off Wilmington or Charleston, and sold to a 
marine transj^ortation company. It was rather 
an unsightly craft, and was divided nv into water- 
proof compartments, constructed rather with a 
view to stowing away the greatest possible quan- 
tity of goods tlmn human comfort. It consumed 
its own steam and smoke, and ran so smoothly 
and quietly that its proximity could hardly be 
detected by hearing. 

Having been from boyhood interested in the 
naval characters of Captain Marrj^att's novels, I 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE 311 

now took a deep interest in learning something 
about the ship and all its crew and fixtures, and I 
found that the queer nautical terms, the sailors' 
language, and their peculiar characteristics, all 
comported with the vivid pen-pictures given in 
Marryatt's sea novels. I went down into the 
little cuddies in the bow of the ship, where the 
sailors live, and talked with them, and heard 
them conversing with each otlier after a style 
peculiarly their own. They were ever jovial, 
free-hearted and witty, and would sell their 
dinner or anything else for that to which they 
took a liking. With one fellow, "Dan," I sev- 
eral times exchanged prison rings for his dinner 
or supper, and for the last meal I took on the 
Cumbria I paid him a $i0.00 Confederate bill, 
which was good for nothing to him, but he said 
he wanted it, and I'm sure I wanted the break- 
fast, even if it was on a tin plate not scru- 
pulously clean. Although they were rough,, 
uncouth, uncleanly, and, in some things, unprin-- 
cipled, I could not help liking the sailor's char- 
acter. 

When we bade the Federal soldiers good-bye, 
both they and we thought more of each other 
than when we started, for they had evinced a 
kindly spirit toward us, and they could not help 
admiring the manly, generous spirit of Southern 
gentlemen. Everything had gone off happily 



312 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

along the whole journey. We numbered alto- 
gether three hundred and fifty, one-seventli being 
of the Northern and the big remainder of the 
Southern persuasion. During the last forenoon 
that we spent together promiscuous groups of 
mottled gray and blue might have been seen all 
over the ship ; some were trading, some telling 
yarns or their war experiences, and how they had 
played off pranks on the Feds, or Rebs., while 
others were gravely and earnestly discussing the 
war question in its various phases and prospects. 
The Yanks, had their guns piled away as if the 
war was over, and we commingled as freely as 
though we had all been birds of a feather. "We 
thanked the officers for their courteous treatment, 
and promised to reciprocate in future, should we 
ever change our relative situations ; then we 
shook hands with our most intimate Federals, 
and, bidding good-bye to the Yankee nation, 
w^ent on shore. 

At Harrison's Landing, which name will be 
often repeated in the history of the struggle just 
past, there is nothing more than a plain brick 
dwelling and a few inferior out-buildings, sur- 
rounded b}^ an open, flat country. From there 
we had to walk three miles around Butler's far- 
famed " Dutch Gap Canal " to the Confederate 
"Flag of Truce Boat" above. Colonel Mulford, 
with a small detachment of cavalry, escorted us 



CAMP, FIELD A]SrD PRISOiq' LIFE. 313 

tliroiigli tlie Federal lines on the nortli side of 
the James. The works at that point were 
manned by the sable sons of Ham, who looked 
well enough, and did not oifer us any indignity 
by either word, look or deed. 

As we approached our steamer the Southern 
troops cheered us from their fortifications on the 
south side of the James. Colonel Mulford ad- 
vanced, riding, with a little white flag sticking in 
his boot-top, met and shook hands with Colonel 
Ould, our agent of exchange, and very soon Ave 
were told to go aboard, which we did with a leap 
ajid a yell of joy, for we were now surely in Dixie 
land. Colonel Mulford, by his manly, generous 
course, won our esteem, as he had done of all the 
prisoners with whom he had ever come in contact. 

We were very soon off for Richmond. Several 
lim rebels witli guns in tlieir liands were on board, 
and so long had it been since I saw the like that 
they really looked curious. A Confederate battle 
flag, which Captain Meyers, of Arkansas, had kept 
concealed since the Big Black fight, was now 
brought out and unfurled to the Southern breeze, 
and we cheered it lustily. After passing several 
renowned forts and batteries, and the torpedo ob- 
structions in the river, and the Confederate navy, 
which seemed like a farce in comparison with the 
Federal, we arrived at Richmond at sundown of 
March 3, 1865. 



314 CAMP, FIELD AND PRTSON" LIFE. 



CHAPTER XV I. 



Ix Jail, July U, 1865. 

"We naturally expected some kind of a reception 
at Richmond, but soldiers and returned prisoners 
were so common there that our arrival and pres- 
ence was scarcely noticed. I took quarters at the 
widely known " Spotswood House," where the 
rate of board was only %50 per day,, but the- fare 
was excellent, considering the times; About the 
first one I met there, to recognize, was Colonel W. 
F. Leathers, of Kentucky, and my recollection is 
that about a half dozen of us, from near the blue 
grass region, were instrumental in giving the 
" hollow horn " to one of his bottles that had a 
sparkling liquid in it. 

On the 4th of March I went to Greneral Ewell's 
headquarters and procured a thirty days' parole 
furlough, which I presented to the Paymaster and 
received six months wages, $780 — money earned 
while I was boarding at Johnson's Island with 
Uncle Samuel. At the time the Confederate Ship 
of State went down the Government owed me 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOlSr LIFE. 315 

twenty months wages, $2,600 ; but as Mr. Magis- 
trate says " the Confederacy is played out," I 
suppose the debt is illegal and I must let it go by 
the board. 

While at Richmond I attended the theater, the 
j)lay, " The French Revolution," being in conso- 
nance with the times ; but I could not help feeling 
unpleasant, for there would be constantly coming 
before my mental vision the awful conflagration 
and appalling loss of life at the Richmond Theater 
many years ago. 

I visited " Libby Prison " and talked with the 
Federals confined there, and could not avoid sym- 
pathizing with them and wishing that their situa- 
tion was more pleasant. The iDOor fellows looked 
badly, but, so far as I could see, were treated as 
well as the surroundings would permit. I could 
not condemn and hate them because the Federal 
authorities mistreated so many of our prisoners,, 
and would have gladly given them comfort, even 
if my brother and other comrades did receive ill 
treatment at the hands of heartless Federal 
ruffians. No doubt there are many who will differ 
from the feelings and principles just enunciated,, 
but I am glad that it was never in my heart to be 
otherwise. I feel that any other spirit is unrea- 
sonable, unkind, ungenerous and unchristian. 

I went to the Confederate Capitol and viewed 
with admiration the colossal statues of Washino-- 



SIG CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISOX LIFE. 

ton and otliers of Virginia's gifted sons, and I 
was liapi:)y to see among them the figure of Henry- 
Clay, of whom Kentuckians liave a just reason to 
be proud. The capitol buildings were not partic- 
ularly prepossessing in appearance, but there were 
associations connected with the very spot that 
made me have almost a reverential feeling I 
was at the Treasury Department from whence so 
many millions of worthless currency has been 
issued. In fact, I was all over the city, and 
though it had been much hacked up by the war, 
it still presented many attractions, indicating that, 
in times of peace, it was a beautiful place. 

On Sunday, March 5, I went to church, where I 
saw both President Davis and Gen. Lee. The very 
looks of each showed that they were great men, 
and I could not help venerating Uncle Bob for his 
good qualities, and admiring him as the greatest 
living military chieftain of the world. The hand- 
some, gallant Breckinridge, Secretary of War, was 
there too, besides a half score of Major and Briga- 
dier-Generals, some of them not unknown to fame. 

Before arrivinc; at Richmond I thought I would 
find sights enough to excite my curiosity for a full 
week, but tliree days fully satisfied my desires. 
And we all thought and said, before leaving John- 
son's Island, that we would certainly liave to get 
on a little spree and have some fun in Richmond, 
but, mlrabile dlctu, I saw scarcely a drunken man 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 317 

during my stay in tlie city, and the only obstacle 
in the way of procuring liquor was the high price, 
$5 per drink, which was no obstacle at all to us 
fellows with pockets full of Confederate scrip 

Monday afternoon, March 6th, I bade adieu to 
my prison companions, some of whom were going 
to remain and others to go in a different direction, 
and repaired to the depot of the Richmond and 
Danville railroad, where I found nearly a thous- 
and paroled prisoners, all anxious to be off for 
their homes. Several hundred of them had to 
stay over for want of room, but I managed to 
get aboard by the hardest. Fifty miles from 
Richmond we came to Burksville, where the Rich- 
mond and Danville road intersects the South Side 
road, leading from Petersburg to Lynchburg, 
which latter point was my destination. 

We missed conneqtion at Burksville, and had 
to lie over twenty-four hours. While there I met 
an old schoolmate from Mississippi, and several 
soldier friends that I had not seen for many 
months, among them several men of my own 
company, who were homeward bound from prison. 
One of them I did not, at first, recognize any more 
than if I had never seen him. 

And I had the pleasure of giving some intelli- 
gence to an anxious mother concerning her son in 
prison. While they were transferring some bag 
gage from the Danville to the Petersburg train, I 



318 CAMP, FIELD AKD PKTSOIN- LIFE. 

noticed a trunk marked J. I. Scales, and, thinking 
that perhaps it belonged to the family of Colonel 
J. I. Scales, whom I had left at Johnson's Island, 
I made inquiry and soon found his mother and 
sister, who were on their way to Petersburg to 
care for his brother. General Scales, who had just 
been wounded. I gave them gladsome news, for 
they had not heard from him for three months, 
and he was then sick, but was now well and hearty. 
My room mate, Major Person, was his especial 
friend, and he was in to see us the day before I 
left prison. The mother and sister were over joy- 
ful, and thanked me many times over, and it really 
made me feel good for hours to know that I had 
relieved their susjDense and added to their happi- 
ness. 

There being no hotel accommodations at Burks- 
ville we had to camp out, and I enj oyed it hugely, 
as I always did enjoy rough camp life. After a 
frugal supper, we built a blazing rail fire, the 
fiddle and the banjo were brought out, and we 
danced after every style. As an interlude, now 
and then a darkey would come in and " pat Juba," 
while several other contrabands would dance to 
it as if life and death depended. Then, for a 
change of programme, some rebellonian who had 
taken lessons from the darkies in the cotton field 
before the war, would pit himself against some 
ebony friend to dance a jig or the highland fling. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON" LIFE. 319 

Thus we wore away about half tlie niglit, then 
wrapped up in our Wankets and slept soundly till 
da^dight. 

When the regular Lynchburg train came it was 
filled with soldiers going to guard an important 
bridge against an anticipated Federal raid, and 
we were promised transportation on a freight train 
which came along just before nightfall. We left 
Burksville at sundown, and had not gone more 
than twenty miles before an accident occurred 
detaining us all night, and, though the distance 
to Lynchburg was only 72 miles, we did not arrive 
there till noon next day. There I overtook Col. 
Gregg, and a dozen other officers of my regiment, 
who left prison a week before me, and I supposed 
were at home. 

We found the city of Lynchburg in an intense 
state of excitement. All tlie available troops 
were concentrated there, and every able-bodied 
citizen was required to go to the city defenses. 
They were hourly expecting to be pounced upon 
by General Sheridan, who was at Amherst Court 
House, 16 miles away, with a large cavalry force, 
but for* some reason Mr. Sheridan, the next day, 
changed the direction of his devastating line of 
march. 

I can not call Lynchburg an attractive place, 
though it has some elegant public and private 
buildings. It has a world-wide celebrity as a 



320 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOX LIFE. 

tobacco emporium, and is the home of some* of 
Virginia's most distinguished citizens. While 
we were at Lynchburg an order was published 
declaring as exchanged all prisoners who had 
been delivered up to the 1st of March, and order- 
ing them upon duty straightway. Most of the 
officers of my regiment belonged to that class, 
having been delivered the last day of February, 
but, having been away from home for about two 
years and a half, they had no idea of going a 
soldiering till they had seen their families and 
sweethearts. Guards were placed on all the 
trains going west, and ordered to let no one pass 
whose j)arole furloughs were dated prior to the 
1st of March. That might have been an insur- 
mountable obstacle to a preacher, but our boys 
all changed their passes to date March 4th, with 
my own, and went about their business — that is, 
in the direction of home. 

We left Lynchburg Thursday morning, March 
9th, and at dusk were at Wj^theville, one hun- 
dred and thirty-five miles on the way. There 
about two hundred of us had a memorable 
scramble at the hotel over a supper that had 
been prepared for not over fifty passengers, as 
our coming was not anticipated. We expected 
to go through to Abingdon, fifty-five miles farther, 
tliat night, but at Gade Springs, thirteen miles 
short of our destination, the train we were on 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 321 

was ordered back to Lynchburg, for fear that it 
would fall into the hands of Yankee raiders. 
There we had to get out at midnight and stay till 
morning, the majority being without shelter or 
fire, in a sloppy snow. 

Four of us went to a one-horse tavern and hired 
a room with one vacant bed in it ; so two of us 
took the floor with our blankets. Sometime 
before day I heard a gruff voice cursing the cold 
bed and troublesome vermin, and after a while 
he called upon us to splice blankets and sleep 
with him, to which we assented, provided he 
would let me in with my boots on, as they were 
so wet that I could not well get them off. Next 
morning we found our bed-fellow to be a militia 
general from the Kanawha Valley. 

On the forenoon of March lOtli, which I remem- 
ber was bitter cold, we went on a freight train to 
Bristol, which is on the Tennessee line. I had 
been at Abingdon in 1862, and found it a very neat, 
comfortable place, but now one-half of it was a 
blackened mass of ruins, the result of a Federal 
cavalry raid. At Bristol, also, several splendid 
depot buildings and machine shops had been 
destroyed by the ruthless invaders. In fact, 
from Richmond to Atlanta, a distance of five 
hundred miles, scarcely a depot building had 
been left standing, and there was hardly a bridge 

along that whole route that had not been de- 
21 



322 CAMP, FIELD AXD PEISOjST LIFE. 

stroyed once or oftener by one army or the other. 

At Bristol I met with my Brigadier- General, 
J. C. Vaughn, his staff, and other old comrades 
that I had not seen since the memorable day at 
Big Black in May 1863 ; and I likewise met up 
with my orderly sergeant and a half-dozen men 
jnst from Point Lookout. We all assembled at 
Room 3 in the Lancaster House, sent for fifty dol- 
lars' worth of brandy, being one quart, and we 
had somewhat of a jollification, presided over 
by Caj^tain Bob Houston, Inspector-General of 
Vaughn's staff. 

Bristol is peculiarly situated, the State line 
running along Main street, and that part of it on 
the Virginia side is there known as Goodson, 
Virginia, bjeing named after one of the old 
citizens. 

I took a freight train on the 12th of March for 
Carter's Depot, twenty miles from Bristol and 
twelve from Jonesboro, icliere I now liold fortli. 
The railroad is cut at Carter's b}^ the destruction 
of a bridge over the Watauga river, I had to 
walk from Carter's to Jonesboro, and at John- 
son's Dej)ot, seven miles from the latter point, I 
came to the spot where my regiment had broken 
up camp on the 18th of November, 18P2, to go 
South. I had, in a little more than two years, 
completed a circuit of about three thousand 
miles, touching at Knoxville, Chattanooga, At- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 323 

lanta, Montgomery, Mobile, Meridian, Jackson, 
Vicksbnrg, Meinphis, Cairo, Indianapolis, San- 
dusJcy, Pittsburg, Harrisburg, Baltimore, Rich- 
mond and Lynchburg. The contents of this 
book are but a drop in the bucket of what I saw, 
heard and experienced. 



324 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



Prison Home, Jonesboko, Tennessee, \ 
July 15, 1865. / 

I feel happier no\Y, and the world looks brighter, 
for the prospects are that to-morrow's sun will not 
find me here. Only those who have been situated 
like I am can appreciate what a balm there is in 
the very thought. I will not dwell upon my 
thoughts and feelings now, but hurry on and finish 
my story up to date. 

In the spring, summer and fall of 1862 I spent 
many pleasant hours about Jonesboro, and Gen. 
E. Kirby Smith having several times sent me to 
this county on important military duty, most 
everybody knew me, at least by name. When I 
returned to the place, after almost three years 
absence, I had forgotten some and failed to recog- 
nize many of my old acquaintances, but olden 
associations were soon revived, and I spent ten 
days here in a most agreeable manner — making 
several very happy additional acquaintances, 
among them the Misses Luckey, the Misses Max- 



CAMP, FIELD AXD PRISON^ LIFE. 325 

well, Misses "Wilds and Miss Cunningham, all of 
tliem rather of the Union persuasion, but refined, 
sociable, hospitable — in a word, interesting. 

While in Jonesboro I stayed with Mr. Slem- 
mons, whose hospitality I enjoyed on former occa- 
sions, and the family were all so kind to me that 
I felt perfectly at home. Most all the prisoners 
who came South with me had a home or some 
special friends to go to. Not so with myself; my 
home was anywhere that I was kindly received. 
Several prison friends invited me to go home with 
them and remain till recalled into service, but I 
preferred to wander about promiscuously among 
my old army and citizen friends. I was anxious 
to make a visit among the good people about 
Newport, where my company was organized, but 
the possibility of a second jaunt to Johnson's 
Island deterred me. 

All during my stay at Jonesboro it was reported 
that the Federals were preparing to advance into 
this country, so I kept prepared for a retreat, and 
on the 22d of March walked to Zollicoffer, 21 
miles east of this place. One of my Lieutenants 
and my Orderly Sergeant left me there and went 
on to Bristol, taking my blanket, canteen and a 
very good coat. After spending several days with 
my friends around Zollicoffer I was to rejoin them 
at Bristol, but have never laid eyes on them from 
that day to this. 



326 CAMP, FIELD AISTD PRISON LIFE. 

I had camped at Zollicoffer, guarding a bridge, 
in the summer of 1862, and, as was my luck most 
everywhere I went, I formed the acquaintance of 
several very interesting ladies thereabout. In the 
evening of March 25th, Gen. Vaughn's Cavalry, 
which had been below Jonesboro, and many citi- 
zens, who were afraid to remain at home, began a 
retrograde movement, and that very niglit the 
Yankees followed them to Carter's, nine miles 
from Zollicoffer, which village was named Union 
before the war. 

Bright and early Sunday morning, March 26th, 
I struck out a foot up the Holston river. My 
carpet sack being very heavy — containing a year's 
supplies — not quartermaster or commissary — I 
took a change of under clothing in a haversack 
and left the carpet sack with Miss Kate Worley, 
two miles from Zollicoffer, telling her I would be 
back, perhaps in a month, ma}^ be not in a year — 
I plodded on some ten miles up the Holston Valley 
and laid over one day with Col. Jim Odell, and 
some other friends of the 2oth Tennessee who 
resided in the vicinity of Meredith's Forge. From 
there I aimed for Grayson county, Va., 80 miles 
away, hearing that it was a safe and pleasant 
place of retreat. I was not with the army, because 
I was yet on parole and could not take up arms. 

I followed the Holston almost to its head- waters 
in Virginia. Falling in comj)any with some refu- 



CAMP, FIELD AN'D PRISOl^ LIFE. 327 

gees who had a led horse, I got to ride about forty 
miles. One night we camped in a school house, 
and the next we stayed with Mr. Porter, in Smyth 
county, Va., three miles from " The Blue Spring." 
Said spring is a basin of water some thirty feet in 
diameter and of an unknown depth ; it is the 
source of Cripple Creek, which flows into New 
river thirty miles to the east. On the last day of 
March we came to the Dry Creek Gap road, in 
Wythe county, leading over the mountain into 
Grayson county. 

As my fellow travelers were not yet determined 
which way they would go, we all concluded to 
stay on that side of the mountain a day or so, to 
see what would turn up, and straightway we be- 
gan to hunt some place to stop at. We divided 
out into small squads. There were four in my 
party, and wherever we went the complaint was 
that they had no horse feed, but they would wil- 
lingly accommodate us. Though often refused, I 
liked the way the people talked. At about the 
sixth trial we got to put up with Mrs. Gleaves, on 
Cripple creek, by taking a little stretch of au- 
thority and using government hay for our stock. 
There I learned that a number of Kentuckians 
were staying in the neighborhood, and that several 
refugee families from Tennessee, of ray acquaint- 
ance, were living in the vicinity. 

Next morning my companions determined to 



328 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

beat back toward the Tennessee line, and I, con- 
cluding tliat I could not find a better camping 
ground, bid them good-bye. The first day of 
April I went to the house of Rev. David SuUins, 
whose brother-in-law, Capt. Frank S. Blair, be- 
longed to my regiment, and with whose wife and 
mother-in-law I had an acquaintance. They 
asked me to stay with them, but their house being- 
small and they refugees, I did not accept their 
profi'ered hospitality, proposing to go that after- 
noon to apply for boarding in the family of Maj. 
John Sanders. 

During the evening Maj or Sanders called in, and 
I told him that I had thougiit of trying to get to stay 
with him a few days. Said he, " Come when you 
please, and stay as long as you please." I afterward 
found that to be his accustomed blunt manner of 
expression. The next day I was initiated into the 
family by Miss Mollie E. Simpson, a refugee from 
Jonesboro, Tennessee, who was teaching Major 
Sanders' children, and giving music lessons to his 
niece. Miss Bettie Brown. Miss Simpson was 
highly educated, especially in music, and, being 
rather extra good looking, was a star in that 
region. In a few days I was well acquainted with 
the whole family, darkies, dogs and all, and, find- 
ing in Mr. and j\Irs. Sanders genuine old Virginia 
hospitalit}^, which always suited me, I was per- 
fectly at home. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 329 

I helped Mrs. Sanders plant lier potatoes and 
most all her garden stuff, and frequently worked 
in the garden during my stay with them, and I 
have not forgotten that I made for her some 
chicken coops, and some wire screws to cure 
gaping chickens. All these things I learned w^iile 
serving an apprenticeship under my mamma, away 
back yonder in my boyhood. I dropped a good 
portion of Major Sanders' corn, and helped liim 
along generally, when I felt inclined — not that 
they asked me to do any of this, but they would 
receive no pay for my board, and I felt unwilling 
not to give at least a partial recompense for the 
benefits I was receiving ; besides, I felt better by 
employing a portion of my time at light work. 
With his house as my nominal home, I stayed on 
the waters of Cripple Creek till the last day of 
May. 

So happily did I pass the time away in the 
agreeable society thereabout that the two months 
had passed away almost before I knew it. Col. 
John Sanders, Major Wythe Gleaves, Mr. Porter 
and Mrs. Foster all asked me to spend a part of 
my time at their homes, and I did stay several 
days and nights at each place. Young ladies 
were more abundant than young gentlemen, most 
all the latter being off in the army. 

We had many pleasant social gatherings, and 
went on two fishing excursions to a mountain 



330 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

stream to angle for trout. Though we captui*ed 
but few trout, we made both trips pay, for each 
fellow had a pretty girl to wait uj^on, and the old 
folks had fixed us up excellent dinners. I remem- 
ber that the first .fishing party was on the 2d day 
of May, and that just as we had spread our tempt- 
ing repast on a huge rock, under some beautiful 
pines and ivys, between the road and gushing, 
sparkling, mountain stream, about thirty officers 
of Vaughn's brigade, most of whom I knew, came 
along on their way home from North Carolina, 
after Johnson's surrender. We were glad to share 
our goodies with them, and they were joyful at 
getting even so small a feast after a comparative 
famine. 

While in Wythe county I visited the celebrated 
lead mines on New river, which had been worked 
since the revolutionary war, and still the rich ore 
seemed inexhaustible. Most all the lead used by 
the Confederate army during the rebellion was 
obtained at that point. 

I was in a religious community, and there was 
preaching at one of two churches every Sabbath. 
I always went, for the ministers. Rev. David Sul- 
lins and Rev. W. E. Munsey, were divines of con- 
siderable celebrity, and I loved to listen to their 
fervid religious eloquence. The family with which 
I was staying, as well as most every other in that 
community, were strict Methodists, and had family 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEIS0:N' LIFE. 331 

worship each night and morning. Dnring my 
whole stay at Maj. Sanders' I did not miss prayers 
a half-dozen times ; and here I must tell a good 
joke on myself. 

One night at prayers I was kneeling by the sofa, 
with my face buried in my hands, and the first 
thing I knew / Iziiem notliing at all, 'being fast 
asleep. Prayers were over, and Miss MoUie Simp- 
son rushed up stairs almost dying to laugh. Mrs, 
S. was tickled at, and Major S. embarrassed by, 
my posture. In a couple of minutes some noise 
disturbed my repose, and I bounced up, innocently 
asking how long prayers had been over. Think- 
ing it might be a tender subject with me, no one 
mentioned the affair for two days, when Miss 
Simpson gradually broached it, and, finding that 
I was not sorely troubled over it, she took a delight 
in describing and laughing at my appearance. 
I hardly think I will be caught napping again 
under similar circumstances. 

General Lee had surrendered on the 9th of 
April, President Lincoln had been killed on the 
14tli, General Johnston had capitulated on the 
20tli, and the Confederate armies in most every 
other quarter had crumbled to pieces, and the 
men who had for four years heroically fought, 
bled and suffered in what they thought a righ- 
teous cause were returning peacefully to their 
homes. Ah ! what a grand, sublime mental pic- 



332 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

ture is contained in the foregoing sentence! I 
could feebly portray it, but will not make the 
attempt. 

When I had, on the first day of June, deter- 
mined to start for my home, and went to thank 
Major Sanders and his lady for their kindness to 
me, and say farewell, my heart was too full for 
utterance, and I hurst into tears, and they, too, 
and their children, wept as if I had been a son 
and brother, going far away, perhaps forever. 
I was strongly attached to the family, and my 
pleasant sojourn and happy associations on 
Cripple Creek will be fresh in my memory and 
pleasing in my reflections till I am no more. 

I stayed one day with the family of Maj. Wm. 
Crouch, in Wytheville; then, in company with 
old Mrs. Blair, I came to Washington Springs, 
Virginia, where General A. E. Jackson (Mudwall 
Jackson) lived. I passed a j)leasant day with his 
good lady and his accomplished daughter, who 
showed me the curiosities thereabout — among 
other things, a group of mineral springs. Four 
springs issued out within a few feet of each other, 
each discharging a diff'erent kind of water — one 
sulphur, one chalybeate, one alumn and the other 
magnesia. I took a taste of each. Mrs. Blair 
stopped there, and I walked on to Abingdon, 
where I unexpectedly met my countyman, J. H. 



CAMP, FIELD AISTD PKTSON LIFE. 333 

D. McKee, who was also homeward bound, and 
sta3^ed over-night at his boarding-house. 

The next forenoon, being Sunday, June 4th, I 
footed it to Bristol, and that evening rode on a 
hand-car to Zollicoffer, and made my way to Mr. 
Worley's, where I had left my carpet-sack with 
Miss Kate. She had kept it safe, although the 
mountain robbers had plundered their house of 
almost half its contents. I intended to come 
right on next "morning, but my feet were so sore 
and swollen that I could scarcely walk. So I con- 
cluded to lie over two days, Miss Kate promising 
to have my clothes washed, and let me have her 
riding horse to go and see my good friends Misses 
Teed and Sallie, and Misses Maggie and Henrie 
Thomas, the two families in no wise related, but 
warm friends. 

I found Miss Teed with a new name, Mrs. Boyd, 
she having married Lieutenant Boyd, of General 
Vaughn's staif, the very night the rebels were 
driven back in the latter part of March. The 
nuptials were not to come ofT for several weeks, 
but when he found that the army was retreating 
he went to her at dusk and laid the matter before 
her, saying that he did" not know wiien the for- 
tunes of war would bring him back — maybe 
never. He left it to her pleasure and discretion 
as to the course to be pursued, and she decided 
to be his bride before mornino;. All hands went 



334 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISOX LIFE. 

to work, the cakes were baked, the parson was 
sent for, and at the strange liour of three o'clock 
in the morning they were pronounced man and 
wife. The next morning he rode away, to be gone 
till the war was over. 

On Tuesday, the 6th, I rode over to Blountville 
to see Major Rhea and Captain Baufman, of my 
regiment. I had been there in 1862, when it was 
a thriving, pleasant town ; now more than half of 
it was in ashes, it having been set on fire by 
shells during a cavalry fight over the town in the 
winter of 1863. 

"Wednesday morning I left a part of my cloth- 
ing at Mr. Worley's, so as to lighten my satchel, 
and by two o'clock walked to Johnson's Depot, 
sixteen miles, from whence I came to Jonesboro 
on a gravel train. The cause and manner of my 
arrest have been mentioned elsewhere. 

Before leaving Virginia I was cautioned by 
several of the refugee families from Jonesboro 
not to come through this place, for, said they, 
" the people and the soldiery are still like an 
exasperated, blood-thirsty mob, and would not 
hesitate to take advantage of the least shadow of 
an excuse to insult, imprison, or even kill you." 
During the war, and even since its close, I had 
seen so much needless scare and fear that I did 
not heed their warnings as the sequel proves I 
should have done. I thought they magnified the 



CAMP, FIELD AND PKISOTT LIFE. 335 

danger because tliey could not in peace and safety 
r(^turn to tlieir liomes, but I found matters even 
worse than tliey had reiDresented. 

Though the civil powers pretended to be in 
vogue, a strong guard was detailed the night of 
my arrest to prevent the lawless, inhuman sol- 
diers from attacking me, but I did not know 
it till afterward, when I furthermore learned that 
tliey intended to beat me up that night, had I not 
been arrested. I dreamed not of the dangers sur- 
rounding me. Even after I was in jail they would 
have used any treacherous means to harm me. 
On two occasions, in the absence of the jailer, a 
soldier has come and tried to get into the jail, 
each refusing to tell his purpose, more than that 
he wanted to see me. Of course it was evil. 
Mrs. Boyd, the jailer's wife and my friend, was 
spunky, and threatened them with arrest if they 
did not leave. ]N"ow, none of those soldiers (4th 
Tennessee) ever knew me in person or had a per- 
sonal grudge against me ; it was simply a desire 
to gratify a fiendish spirit. 

A dozen Confederate soldiers have been as- 
saulted in this town for nothing except being 
rebels, and those who have returned home in the 
country are frequently driven from church. They 
do not pretend to come to town, and even many 
of the Southern citizens stay away, fearing insult 
or injury. This is not an overdrawn, imaginary 



336 CAMP, FIELD A^D PRISO]!^ LIFE, 

sketch, but reality. I wish the facts would bear 
me up in making a brighter record. 

Now I will note down some of the incidents 
connected with my jail life. I still have a clear 
remembrance of how matters looked and how I 
felt when I was first initiated into prison life at 
Johnson's Island, Ohio, and I can imagine that I 
will never forget my similar inauguration at Jones- 
boro Jail. 

At about nine o'clock p. m. of June 7th, 1865, 
Sheriff Shipley, in command of a gallant escort, 
headed by Jailor Boyd, conducted me up a wind- 
ing flight of steps, through two doors which I 
ohserved, though small, were strong. We stooped 
a little in passing through an iron grating, when 
we found ourselves in the center of an entirely 
unfurnished room, but which, a half glance showed, 
had been made for keeps. I was furnished with 
a pallet and a tin of water ; and soon the iron 
hinges grated, the door slammed, and all was 
darkness and I alone. Who will blame me for 
not attempting to describe my feelings just then? 
But I was tired, and soon didn't know but what I 
was in bed at home. 

Next morning Mr. Shipley and Mr. Boj'd came 
to see me, both offering to do anything they could 
for my comfort; and I must now say that they 
have both ever treated me in the most kind and 
courteous manner. I thought that I could give 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 337 

bail and go right on home ; but I was told then, 
and have since seen, that even the Union citizens, 
though willing at heart, are afraid to show any 
sympathy for a rebel. 

Confinement and solitude was irksome for a few 
days, but I gradually habituated myself to the 
necessities of the occasion, and, though this is the 
thirty-eighth day of my positive sojourn in this 
little room, the time has not seemed extremely 
long. I have had books or papers to read most 
all the time, and have written many a line. A 
number of ladies have ministered to my wants in 
various ways. Mrs. Blair and Mrs. Slemmons 
have sent me many good dinners, the former also 
sending reading matter and the latter money and 
stationery. Miss Maggie Williams, an orphan 
girl with a-big heart and generous impulses, sent 
me a note offering to aid me to the extent of her 
ability, and an unknown gentleman friend placed 
$10 in the hands of a lady, subject to my order. 

On the 19th June a young lady brought me 
some gooseberries, pancakes and syrup, and on 
the 22d I was visited by Miss Amanda Babb, 
whom I have to thank and remember for several 
favors. The next day Mrs. Vandyke, with whom 
I am not acquainted, sent me two books to read. 

Dr. " Bill Sketer" Smith, Ex-Surgeon U. S. A., 

came to pay me a friendly visit on the 24th. I 

had arrested him in June, 1862, upon a grave 
22 



338 CAMP, FIELD AiS"D PRISO]^ LIFE. 

charge, by order of Gen. B. Kirby Smith. He was 
accused of hiring a crazy boy to put an obstruction 
on the railroad track just before a train of sokliers 
came along. I found him at home, and, after 
talking with him for a while, was so well satisfied 
of his innocence that I did not put him under 
guard, but rode alone with him into Jonesboro, 
sending my soldiers back a nearer way. And 
then I put him upon his parole of honor to report 
to me at the depot half an hour before the train 
started for Knoxville. As soon as he was seen at 
large on the streets a half dozen of the most 
prominent Southern men in the place came to me 
and said that if I did not put him under guard he 
would be gone in half an hour. But I took my 
own advice, and that night sent Dr. Smith to 
Knoxville in charge of a single soldier, furnishing 
him with a letter of recommendation to General 
Smith, by which he got the privilege of the city 
limits instead of going to jail. In two weeks he 
was unconditionally released, as the charge was 
never verified. Ever after that he was my warm 
friend, and now oftered to reciprocate my kind- 
ness in any shape in his power. 

On the 25tli my uncle, who had been my guard- 
ian and i^rotector almost from infancy, "and for 
whom I had sent in the hour of need, came, and 
tlie first shalce hands we had after four years'* 
separation was through a grated^ iron door. I in- 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 339 

vited liim into my room ; we talked over home mat- 
ters, and then set about devising ways and means 
for my welfare. Col. A. J. Brown, 8th Tennessee 
Cavalry, who was a Union citizen when I had com- 
mand of the Post of Jonesboro, in May, 1862, was 
employed as counsel, and my uncle, after arrang- 
ing matters as we all thought most prudent, left 
for home. 

Mrs. Boyd brought me a nice plate of delicious 
blackberries, and some young lady sent me a good 
novel to read on the 28th. The next evening Dr. 
Joe Clark, of this county, took lodgings with me, 
being charged with arson : he had just come from 
a two months' term in the Knoxville jail, charged 
with treason. (Why didn't they have the whole 
Confederacy in the calaboose on the same charge ?) 
He was released from there on $10,000 bail, and 
from here by giving |2,500 security for his appear- 
ance. 

Sergeant Mathias Garber, 60th Tennessee, C. S. 
A., was, on the 1st day of July, admitted to my 
sanctum to answer to the charge of a murder dur- 
ing the war, which it was well known that he 
simply witnessed. The judge admitted him to 
$5,000 bail, and he has been confidently expecting 
a release for the past week. 

For ten days the weather has been oppressively 
warm, but we have stood it well, considering. 
Several ladies have been to peep in at us, and 



840 CAMP, FIELD A WD PRISOJT LIFE. 

throw us apples, like little boys to the caged wild 
"beasts. It was fan to us, but their faces indicated 
sorrowful and sympathizing hearts, and some- 
times, as they would bid us good-bye and turn to 
go away, tear-drops would trickle down their 
cheeks. God bless all such dear women ! Mrs. 
Boyd has fed us well all the time, and furnished 
us one of her best beds to sleep on, and we have 
danced, sung, talked at discretion, and, I might 
almost say, had a good time generally. 

Reader, I have given you the bright side of prison 
life ; I would perpetuate all the pleasing memories 
of the past, but the sad ones I would fain obliterate. 
It is now late in the evening, and the midnight hour 
will not find me here. In the meantime I shall 
bid adieu to prison walls — I hope forever. 



CAMP, FIELD AKD PRISON- LIFE. 341 



CONCLUSION. 



At Homb, Anderson County, Kentucky, \ 
July 25, 1S65. J 

I left Jonesboro jail at eleven o'clock on tlie 
night of the 15th, and was conducted by Jailor 
Boyd, through the dark and rairi, to the residence 
of Colonel A. J, Brown, with whom my uncle 
had bargained for a horse, and who had prom- 
ised to escort me, or have me escorted, beyond 
danger. He had engaged Mr. Billie Patterson, 
a disloyal citizen, to perform the service. I 
mounted Col. Brown's war steed, and at the dead 
hour of night we rode through the main street of 
Jonesboro, wending our way in the direction of 
Bull's Gap, forty miles distant. 

We encountered no more serious difficulty than 
getting lost several times in the dark, and at day- 
light were at Mr. Jacob Kaff's, twelve miles on the 
way, where we stopped an hour to give our horses 
a bite and ourselves a nap in his barn. After 
riding all day through an incessant rain we 
passed through Bull's Gap an hour by sun. Mr. 



342 CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 

Patterson's contract being complete, lie turned 
back, and I went on to Mr. Taylor's, in the edge 
of Jefferson county, where I met with my old 
neighbors, Scott, Green and James McCoun. 

The thought may occur to the reader, was that 
meeting accidental ? No ; they had come all the 
way from Central Kentucky to meet and escort 
me home through the mountains. During most 
of the year l862 I occupied so prominent a posi- 
tion before the people of East Tennessee that I 
was known everywhere from Bristol to Chatta- 
nooga, a distance of two hundred miles, and the 
news of my arrest and imprisonment had been 
spread abroad. I had intended to go through on 
the cars, and keep rather secluded, to avoid being 
recognized ; not that I felt that I had any reason to 
be ashamed or afraid of recognition, but because, 
as I have said a little way back. Confederate sol- 
diers were every day being assaulted and insulted 
as they passed over the railroads, and I did not 
wish to subject myself to a similar indignity. 
Now, it would not do to think of going that way, 
for my life would have been in jeopardy, and I 
would have run a great risk in going alone 
through the mountains just then, consequently 
matters were arranged as already indicated. 

And then again comes the question. How about 
the bail ? It will be remembered that his august 
Majesty, 'Squire Somebody, fixed it at $2,000. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 343 

"VYlien court came on the judge reduced it one- 
half, and laid the case over till next term. 

[February, 1870. — It may well be imagined that, 
under the then existing circumstances, I did not 
reiDort at Jonesboro at the appointed time. The 
consequence was T lost my $1,000, as well as $700 
more in defraying expe'nses. That draining of my 
purse seems to have been ample atonement for 
my sins against the laws of Tennessee, for, at 
about the second sitting of the court, the prose- 
cuting attorney ordered a nolle prosequi to be set 
opposite my case. Such a thing as legal justice 
to a rebel in that country was then unheard of, 
and, besides, there was absolute danger of per- 
sonal insult and injury, as I could have proved 
by the most loyal men in that region. 

In September, 1865, 1 went to Brig.-Gen. Harlan 
and Maj.-Gen. Rousseau, U. S. A., both promi- 
nent Kentucky lawyers, and laid the facts before 
them as now laid before the world, whereupon 
each of them pronounced it a gross outrage, from 
beginning to end, but said I would have to run 
the risk of getting justice before the Tennessee 
authorities. I did go to Nashville to see the Gov- 
ernor {It must he remembered tTiat Billy Brown- 
low was now at the helm of State) ; he was absent, 
but, after some talk with the Secretary of State 
and several other knowing ones, I found that / 
loas harking up the lorong tree, and concluded to 



344 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

do as the boys advised tlie Yankee soldiers that 
we passed "between Sandnsky and Mansfield, en 
route South, nor have I bothered my brain over 
the matter since.] 

Early in the morning of the 17th Messrs. Mc- 
Coun, Green and myself were homeward bound, 
and at night put up at Tazewell, thirty-six miles 
on the way. The next day we passed through 
Cumberland Gap, and after riding thirty eight 
miles stopped with the genial and hospitable lady 
of Mr. Joe Smith. The day following we passed 
through Barboursville and London, and at the 
end of forty-one miles took lodgings at Camper's. 
On the 20th of July we passed through Mount 
Vernon and Crab Orchard, and stayed over night 
at the Meyer's House in Stanford. July 21st we 
came through Danville, Harrodsburg and Law- 
renceburg, and I reached home at dusk, after an 
absence of three years, eleven months and nine- 
teen days, almost one-half of which time had 
been spent in prison. 

Though our journey through the mountains of 
Tennessee and Kentucky was tiresome, there were 
many pleasant incidents connected with it, for my 
companions were jolly fellows, and knew every 
foot of the ground, having for years past driven 
stock South by that route and put up at all the 
stopping places. From Crab Orchard to Bull's 
Gap, 150 miles, the marks of devastation are 



CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 345 

everywhere plainly visible. One-half of the houses 
are bnrnt, most all the fencing is gone, and the 
wreck of war material is scattered along the whole 
distance. Cumberland Gap, which will hereafter 
be a historic name, looked like a thriving little 
city, and is now garrisoned by about 400 Ohio 
troops. Looking South from the peaks around 
the Gap, one can see fifty miles away, and the 
view is the most grand and picturesque that I ever 
witnessed. 

Most of the rough country in East Tennessee 
has rich soil, and water is abundant and excellent ; 
but from Cujnberland Gap to Crab Orchard, Ken- 
tucky, there is little desirable land and the water 
is miserable in quality, nor is there an abundance 
of it. Several Northern companies are now boring 
for oil in the vicinity of Barboursville and Lon- 
don, Kentucky, and there are immense beds of 
coal and other valuable ores in the bowels of the 
earth all through that region. 

The foregoing is but a meager sketch of what I 
have actually seen and experienced during the 
time consumed by the narrative, and I will not 
probably in all the balance of my life pass through 
as much as in the four years just gone by. All 
that I have risked and suffered has been for noth- 
ing ; but almost every project in life is an uncertain 
experiment, and, not unfrequently, the most plaus- 
ible and reasonable attempts prove abortive. I 



346 CAMP, FIELD AND PRISON LIFE. 

can not say that I now regret what I have done, 
but I will try to profit by the lessons of the past, 
and make the most of the future. 

During my absence many, many changes have 
been wrought. Almost a generation of children 
seem to have sprung up, and I even do not recog- 
nize many that were my schoolmates. Some who 
went to the wars with me came not back ; some 
have died at home and some have moved away. 
Most of the negro population have gone either to 
the grave, the army, or to live in filth and pov- 
erty in some hovel or camp whither they have 
repaired in search of freedom {?) 

The war is at an end, but peace and prosperity 
are not yet returned, and, in many sections, long 
years must yet roll by ere the people get over the 
terrible scourge of civil war. My only hope and 
expectation have been to survive the struggle sound 
in limb and constitution, and a return to my home 
and friends, which has come to pass even so. 
Before the war I did not know what it was to pro- 
vide for myself, but now my all has been swept 
away, and, if I would rise or prosper, it must be 
through my own merits and efl'orts. Nor have I 
been for an hour cast down, but conclude that it 
may be even for the best, since I have noticed that 
a majority of the best men in our land are those 
who have risen by their own exertions. 



CAMP, FIELD AND PEISON LIFE. 347 

War life is not desirable, but altogether I can 
not say that my experience has been more un- 
happy than it might have been in civil life, and I 
can ever reflect back along my war path and find 
scenes and incidents upon which it will be pleasant 
to dwell. And, though most of them I will never 
see again, I can not, and would not, forget the 
many good, kind friends I found all over Dixie- 
land. 

Probably four-fifths of all the Confederate pris- 
oners who have read this narrative through will 
exclaim that it is a brighter picture of prison life 
than their own experience would warrant. And 
it would be nothing less than the truth, for I have 
given it from my own stand-point, which was 
more favorable than that of the large majority. 
How and why it was more fortunate will have 
been gleaned by the careful reader. 

And now, in conclusion, I would say to those 
who struggled with me in the Lost Cause : Let us 
no longer cherish an enmity against those who 
were our adversaries, simply because they did, 
and do yet, difier with ns in opinion, but, with a 
generous spirit, give due honor, friendship and 
kindness to all who were honest, gallant and faith- 
ful. And, though our mutual desires and hopes 
have been disappointed and we scattered over 
the earth, let us remember that we should still be 



348 CAMP, FIELD ATTD PEISOIST LIFE. 

as a "band of brothers, cherishing an affection for, 
and a remembrance of, each other. And last, but 
not least, will we, can we, forget that we owe a 
debt of fraternal and paternal sympathy to the 
helpless widows and orphans of our fallen com- 
rades who sleep on a thousand battlefields and in 
almost every burial ground in the Southern land ? 



APPENDIX. 



The following Medical History was not written 
for publication in this work, but, as its heading will 
show, was read before a society of medical men 
in Alabama. Its tone is so entirely in consonance 
with that of my book, and it contains so many 
interesting facts, that I regard it as a valuable 
addition to the merits of the work. And I am 
sure the medical profession will appreciate the 
statistics and practical comments concerning the 
diseases in prison and their treatment. 

The author is now a member of the faculty of 
the College of Surgeons and Physicians in this 
city. 

St. Louis, Mo., MarcJi, 1870. 



(349) 



plead before Montgomery Medical Society, April 30th, 1866.] 

A MEDICAL HISTORY 

OF THE 

United States Military Prison 

ON JOHNSON'S ISLAND, LAKE ERIE. 



MoNTaoMERT, Ala.., April S5fh, 18G6. 

In writing this paper I wonld have it distinctly 
understood that I am actuated by no feelings of a 
political or sectional character. I do not desire 
to place on record any facts which may be used 
in adding to the embittered feelings and political 
agitation now so widespread in this great but 
politically unfortunate country. I do not desire 
that this record should be considered as an offset 
for the alleged brutalities to Northern prisoners 
at Ander.sonville, or as a Southern testimonial of 
the humane and generous treatment of Southern 
prisoners by the Federal government. I simply 
present it to my professional brethren as a medi- 
cal record of prison life on Johnson's Island. 



352 APPENDIX. 

An explanation of the circumstances nnder 
which the succeeding observations were made is 
necessary before they can be prpperly appreciated. 

I participated in the late war as Colonel of the 
1st Regiment Ala. Vols., and was twice made a 
prisoner of war, and confined each time chiefly on 
Johnson's Island. The first time, in the summer 
of 1862, for two months only. The second time, 
from Oct., 1863, to March, 1865, eighteen months. 
During the last imprisonment, at the earnest 
solicitation of my fellow prisoners and with the 
approval of the Post Medical authorities, I ac- 
cepted the position as one of the medical officers 
of the Prison Hospital. Associated with me at 
different times were Capt. L. E. Locke, of Selma, 
Alabama; Capt. Joseph F. Sessions, of Holmes 
county, Miss ; Col. Wm. S. Christian, of Urbana, 
on tlie Rappahannock, Virginia, and Col. G. Troup 
Maxwell, of Tallahassee, Florida — all gentlemen 
of medical education and ability, and now, as be- 
fore the wr.r, practicing physicians. The usual 
hospital records were kept under my supervision 
during my connection with tlie hospital, embrac- 
ing a period of nearly eighteen months. I pre- 
served a copy of this record, and it is from this 
document that I take the statistics used in this 
paper. 

Johnson's Island is situated in the southwestern 
end of Lake Erie, at the entrance of Sandusky 



APPEl^DIX. 353 

Bay, and is tliree miles distant from Sandnsky 
City, Ohio. It is very nearly in tlie same latitnde 
as New York City. The island is small, contain- 
ing about two hundred acres, more or less. It has 
been heavily timbered with oak, hickory and 
maple, but since the occupation as a military 
post this timber has been cut down, and the 
island is now bare. The surface of the island is 
generally elevated from four to fifteen feet above 
the surface of the lake, slojDing from the center to 
the lake. The prison is situated on the north- 
eastern part of the island, and is an enclosure of 
eight or ten acres, more or less. The surface of 
this enclosure is a gradual slope to the lake. The 
wall surrounding it is about twelve feet high. A 
stratum of limestone underlies the surface of the 
prison yard or enclosure at a depth varing from 
eighteen inches to six feet, rarely more. The 
drainage of the prison is of the simplest character, 
consisting of a large open ditch running around 
on the inside of the walls, with smaller ones, from 
twelve to eighteen inches deep, running through 
the yard at irregular intervals and emptying into 
the lake, which runs very nearly up to the eastern 
prison wall. All the drains are open ones and 
dependent upon washing rains for a thorough 
cleansing. 

The prison barracks are white pine frame build- 
ings, thirteen in number, built in two rows, with a 
23 



354 APPENDIX. 

wide street, perhaps fifty yards, running between. 
Tlie thirteen buildings are of tlie same size ; about 
125 feet long b}^ 30 feet wide ; two stories higli ; 
the lower floor generally about IS inches above 
the ground. Four of these barracks are well and 
comfortably constructed, and divided into small 
and comfortable ceiled rooms, each containing a 
stove. The remaining nine buildings are divided 
into two large rooms below and three above, with 
a small room attached to each end for cooking 
purposes. There was no means of ventilation, 
except a limited number of windows, which would 
have been sufficient for a small population. But, 
when crowded as these rooms were with from fifty 
to eighty men, this amount of ventilation was 
totally unsufficient. The result was, tliat each 
prisoner would cut a small hole in the walls near 
his head, through which to get air and light. 
This gave the buildings a grotesque, ragged ap- 
pearance, especially during the winter when the 
many devices for windows were arranged to close 
these holes. 

Some of these nine barracks were ceiled, some 
were not. A small ditch surrounded each build- 
ing, emptying into one of the small cross drains. 

Each building, during my residence in the prison, 
accommodated from two to three hundred pris- 
oners, who slept on bunks, three stories high, 
arranged against the walls. The large rooms were 



APPENDIX. 355 

heated by stoves, burning wood. But daring the 
prevailing intense cokl of that latitude in winter, 
the rooms were insufficiently warmed, and there 
was consequently great suffering ; the supply of 
blankets and clothing being scant for men unac- 
customed to cold winters. The supply of wood 
was not sufficient to keep up fires during the night. 

The jDrison hospital is inside the prison walls, 
and is one of the thirteen barrack buildings. In 
construction it is the same as the barracks, except 
that the building is divided into four wards, two 
up stairs and two below, with small rooms at the 
ends for a dispensary, kitchen, surgeon's quarters, 
dining room and laundry. The building is plas- 
tered inside with one rough coat, and this white- 
washed. 

The supply of water for the prison was from a 
number of holes in the middle of the street, from 
six to eight feet deep ; this water was highly im- 
pregnated with lime. In addition to these holes 
there were three pumps on the lower side of the 
prison, connecting by pipes with the lake. In 
the midst of winter, when the wells and pumps 
were frozen up or out of order, the prison gates 
were opened, morning and afternoon, and the 
prisoners permitted, in detachments, to go on the 
ice and get water in their buckets, barrels, tubs, 
jugs, tin cans and canteens, through the holes cut 
in the ice for that purpose. 



356 APPEKDIX. 

The hospital had no appliance for water beyond 
the general arrangements for the prison. Hence 
the snpply of pure water was insufficient, espe- 
cially for hospital purposes. 

The j)rivies for the use of the jDrison and hospi- 
tal Avere simple sinks dug in the rear of each build- 
ing, at distances varying from thirty feet to thirty 
yards. Over each sink was a shed. There Avas 
no drainage from the privies. The substratum 
being a limestone rock, these sinks necessarily 
filled up very rapidly, and were constant sources 
of disease. 

The prison hospital accommodated about sixty 
patients, but in emergency would hold seventy- 
five, by crowding the wards. The hospital was 
plainly furnished, so as to render patients as com- 
fortable as the character of the building would 
permit. Each ward was warmed by a large stove, 
which was insufficient in much of the extreme cold 
weather of the winters there. The wards were 
ventilated by windows and a box or flue passing 
through each room out at the top of the house. 
But the arrangement for ventilation was exceed- 
ingly defective. 

The physicians, nurses and attendants in all 
the departments were from among the prisoners, 
so that the sick received all the attention and 
kindness within the means of their comrades. 



APPENDIX. 357 

The medical supplies were issued to the hospital 
in accordance with the supply table of the Medi- 
cal Department, U. S. Army, but were frequently 
insufficient, in consequence of the great preva- 
lence of disease among the prisoners. 

The supply of food to the sick was generally 
ample in quantity, but of too coarse a character 
for sick men. There was a systematic effort ou 
the part of the surgeon of the post, Dr. Evers- 
man, to supply the necessary diet suited to tlie 
sick, but, from tiie want of sufficient funds or 
proper authority, his efforts did not accomplish 
the good always intended by him. Here I would 
state that Dr. Eversman and Dr. T. Woodbridge, 
U, S. A., who were the post surgeons during my 
connection with the prison, always evinced a 
desire to do all in their power for the relief of 
sick prisoners; yet, in consequence of the rigid 
orders from Washington regulating the treatment 
of prisoners of war, their good intentions availed 
but little in relieving the vast amount of suffer- 
ing, which could at least have been greatly ame- 
liorated by a generous supply of the wants of our 
sick. 

I re2;ret that I have not at command a record of 
the temperature of this locality, hence I can only 
speak from memory. The lowest point at which 
I saw the mercury during my two winters' resi- 



358 APPENDIX. 

dence was twelve degrees below zero. This was 
a rare occasion, but it was not unusual to see it 
approximate zero. From December 1st to March 
1st it was rare that it was as high as thirty-two 
degrees, never remaining above this point but a 
short while. The bay generally freezes over in 
December and breaks up in the latter part of 
February, Navigation being closed during this 
time, the supplies for the prison and garrison 
were hauled over the ice in wagons. Snow was 
very frequent, covering the ground for weeks at a 
time. The ground in the prison yard rarely 
thawed during the middle of winter. The island 
having little timber, the prison was constantly 
exposed to the bleak winter winds blowing from 
the lake. 

In estimating the effects of disease in this 
prison, the character of its inmates must be held 
in mind. This was a prison especially con- 
structed and located for the confinement of 
officers, and, with a few exceptions, none others 
were ever kept here. These men were from 
the best classes of the Southern people ; they 
were men of education and property ; the great 
majority of them were young and in the prime of 
life. Hence, a better class of men, considered in 
every aspect, has never been, or never will be 
assembled again, in the same anomalous situa- 



APPENDIX. 359 

tion. It is to tliese favorable circumstances that 
I attribute the very light mortality in this prison, 
in comparison with the great amount of disease 
which prevailed there. 

Below I give a condensed view of the total 
admissions into the hospital, with the mortality 
from each disease, during my connection with it ; 
that is, from November, 1863, to April, 1865. 
The average number of prisoners confined upon 
Johnson's Island during this time was about 
twenty-five hundred. In the latter part of 1863 
there were not more than two thousand ; in 1865 
there were three thousand. 



360 



APPEN-DIX 



TOTAL ADMISSIONS 

Into the Prison Hospital, U. S. Military Prison, Johnson's Island, 
Lake Erie, from November 1st, 1S63, to March 20th, 1SB5, with 
the ■)nortallty resulting from each disease. 



Disease. 


V. 

d 

2.5S 

125 

89 

60 

56 

43 

48 

36 

86 

34 

33 

26 

19 

17 

17 

13 

13 

11 

9 

8 

8 

8 

7 

7 

6 

6 

5 

4 

4 


Q 

6 
10 

"i 

o 

"9 

1 

5 
1 

1 

"3 

1 
1 

"i 
1 


Disease. 




6 


c 

4 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
2 
2 
2 

2 
2 


22 








Chronic Uiarrhoeu 






Intermittent Fever 








Diabetes 

Stricture 

Secondary Syphilis 












Kemittent Fever 


... 


Wound. 

Bronchitis 


Abscess 

Fracture 

Nephritis 

Orchitis 




(Jatarrh ■. 

Pneumonia 




Ervsipehis 






T vpht)icl Fever 


Dislocated Shoulder 

Ulcerated Leg 




General Debility 

Small Pox 




Ptvali<m 




Tonsilitis 


Chorea 




Dyspepsia 


Inflammation ol Brain... 

Congestion of Brain 

Itch 


1 


Spinal Irritation 

Congestive Fever , 


1 


Angina 




Gastritis 


Ulceration f m Yaccin'n 
ParaDlesria 




Jaundice 




Hepatitis 


TT " » 




Phthisis Pulmonalis 

Dropsy 

Pleuritis 


Gonorrhoea 

A.^ithma 




Coniunctivitis 


Insanity 

Total 




Cvstitis 






1047 


45 













APPENDIX. 361 

I now propose to make sucli practical remarks 
iij)on the principal diseases recorded in the above 
statistics as will give a general idea of the influ- 
ence of prison circumstances upon these diseases. 
Hence I do not desire that medical men should 
regard these descriptions as complete histories 
of the diseases, but simply practical notes ex- 
planatory of the statistics of the hospital record. 

Frequent reference appears in the succeeding 
portions of this paper to the diet of prisoners 
confined in this prison, and the best manner in 
which I can convey a correct idea on this subject 
is to insert here a copy of a statement written by 
the physicians of the prison hospital in the au- 
tumn of 1864. 

Prisox Hospital, Johnson's Island,! 
November 16, 1S64. i 

CoLOisrEL : The undersigned officers of the Con- 
federate States army (prisoners of war) are, in 
times of peace, practicing physicians. We are 
now acting as surgeons in our prison hospital. 

We adopt this metJiod of informing you (if 
you are not already aware of it) that the pris- 
oners confined here are suffering seriously from 
want of food. 

First. We make this painful announcement 
from our personal experience and observation 
among our comrades. Food is the constant 
theme of conversation among them, and w^e are 



362 APPENDIX. 

repeatedly told, " We are hungry ; we do not get 
enough to eat." Instances are not unfrequent of 
repulsive articles heing greedily devoured — rats, 
spoiled meat, bones, bread from the slops, &c. 

Secondly, We wish to demonstrate to you, 
from physiological data, that the ration issued 
is insufficient to maintain health. 

Prof. Dalton says : "With coffee and water for 
drink, we have found that the entire quantity of 
food required during twenty-four hours by a man 
in full health and taking free exercise in the open 
air is as follows : 

Meat (butcher's), ounces avoirdupois 16 

Bread, ounces avoirdupois 19 

Butter or fat, ounces avoirdupois 3J 

88J oz. 

That is to say, rather less than two and a half 
pounds of solid food." (See Dalton's Physiology, 
page 115.) 

Colonel Hoffman, Commissary-General of Pris- 
ons, in his published order regulating the ration 
of prisoners of war, establishes the following : 

Pork or bacon (in lieu of fresh beef), ounces 10 

Fresh beef, ounces 14 

Flour or soft bread, ounces 10 

Hai'd bread (in lieu of flour or soft bread), ounces.... 14 

Corn meal (in lieu of flour or soft bread), ounces.... 16 
to each ration. 



APPENDIX. 363 

Beans or pens, pounds 12^ 

Rice or hominy, pounds 3 

Soap, pounds 4 

Vinegar, quarts 3 

Salt, pounds 4| 

Potatoes, pounds 15 

to one hundred rations. 

Accompanying tins comrannication we inclose 
the abstracts of rations actually recehed clnring 
the month of October for the first and second 
divisions of the prison. The abstracts have been 
carefully prepared for this purj)ose by the chiefs 
of those divisions from their memoranda taken 
at the time of issue. By carefully estimating 
the average daily ration in ounces of. solid food 
from these abstracts for October, you will find 
that each prisoner receives 28 1-2 ounces. 

Colonel Hofi'man's order allows Mm about 34 1-2 
ounces ; Professor Dalton would give him 38 1-2 
ounces. 

Your commissary, therefore, has given us ten 
ounces less than the physiological requirements 
of health, and -six ounces less than Colonel Hoff- 
man's order. 

This deficit of six ounces is the result : First, 
of a short issue of bread of about 1 1-2 ounces ; 
second, of a short issue of beans or peas, rice 
or hominy and potatoes (only one, instead of 
three, having been issued daily), 3 1-2 ounces; 



364 APPEIS'DIX. 

third, no issue of meat at all for three clays, 1 
ounce — 6 ounces. 

As to the quality of the ration issued for Octo- 
ber, the beef consisted almost entirely of fore- 
quarters, neck and sJianJc, the large proportion of 
bone reducing the actual meat received nearly 
one-half, or to seven ounces (7 oz). Salt beef and 
fish, now issued about twice a week, are not in- 
cluded in Colonel Hoifman's published order as a 
part of the ration. Salt fish, with our want of 
facilities for properly preparing them, make a 
most unpalatable dish, and, from the testimony of 
our comrades, are only used from dire necessity, 
to satisfy the cravings of hunger. Moreover, salt 
beef and salt tish do not contain sufficient oil or 
fat to answer the requirements of health during 
winter in this latitude. 

Though Colonel Hoffman's order falls short of 
the physiological requirements of a man in health 
by three and a half ounces, yet we believe that if 
his order be faithfully executed health can be 
maintained for a long while, considering the 
limited amount of exercise generally taken by 
prisoners. 

But, Colonel, it is our solemn conviction that if 
the inmates of this prison are compelled to subsist 
for the winter upon this reduced ration of ten 
ounces less than health demands, and six ounces 
less than Colonel Hoffman's order allows,' all 



APPENDIX. 365 

mnst suifer tlie horrors of continual hunger, and 
many must die from the most loatliesome dis- 
eases. As physicians, we aslc you, for humanity's 
sake, to compel your commissary to do his duty 
faithfully and honestly by issuing the ration we 
are entitled to ; as prisoners of war, we demand it. 
Relying upon your early attention to this urgent 
and important subject, we are, 

. Respectfully, yours, etc., 

I. G. W. Steedman, M. D., 

Col. 1st Reg't Ala. Vols. 
L. E. Locke, M. D., 

Capt. 53d Ala. Cavalry. 
G. Tkoup Maxwell, M. D., 

Col. 1st Florida Cavalry. 
Acting Surgeons Prison Hospital. 
To Colonel Palmer, Commanding Post. 

This article, it will be seen, was written under 
the pressure of the immediate circumstances sur- 
rounding us. But the facts as stated there will 
not apply to the period of time embraced in this 
report, between Nov., 1863, and July, 1864. The 
ration issued to prisoners Avas cut down b}^ gen- 
eral orders from Washington, about July, 1864 ; 
up to that time the ration was sufficient in quantity. 

DYSENTERY. 

It will be seen that two hundred and fifty-eight 
(258) cases of dysentery were admitted into the 



366 APPENDIX. 

prison liospital ; the building being too small by 
one- third to accommodate the sick of the prison, 
a discrimination had to be made. The milder 
cases were always rejected when more serious 
ones demanded attention. Those failing to obtain 
admission were treated in quarters by physicians 
(prisoners) living in the barracks with the sick 
man. The prescriptions for all cases in quarters 
were filled at the liospital dispensary. No.records 
of prisoners sick in quarters were kept ; hence I 
have no means of estimating the frequency of 
disease in quarters except by the number of pre- 
scriptions presented at the dispensary. It was a 
common occurrence for from one hundred and 
fifty to two hundred prescriptions to be filled 
there dail}^, beside the regular hospital i)re- 
scriptions, and four hundred on some days. 
These prescriptions, of course, were not all for 
dysentery, but the various diseases existing among 
the prisoners. No other prescriptions were filled 
in this dispensary except for prisoners, so that 
the 258 cases by no means include all the dysen- 
tery which occurred in this prison. The same can 
be said of many other diseases in the above record. 
The dysentery prevailing in the prison was 
endemic, but could not be called technically epi- 
demic dysentery or fiux, as we see it ordinarily in 
civil practice. Few prisoners escaped an attack 
of it. From the numerous cases comine; under 



APPENDIX. 867 

my observation and treatment, I regarded it as 
the direct result of prison diet, bad water and the 
impure air of the crowded rooms. The remedies 
ordinarily in use in the treatment of dysentery 
were of little avail. The only successful j)lan of 
treatment was, to effect a total change in the diet 
and habits of the patient. Give him light, nutri- 
tious, well-cooked food, composed, as far as prac- 
ticable, of vegetables and fresh meat ; place him 
in a well ventilated, quiet ward, and give him 
pure water from the lake. The ordinary anodynes, 
astringents and other medicines nsed in the dis- 
ease were useful, but effected nothing as long as 
the patient lived on prison diet, &c. When brought 
to hospital these cases would rapidly recover, but 
as soon as returned to quarters many would soon 
relapse. In this way began the numerous cases 
of chronic diarrhea and dysentery with which 
prisoners suffered so much. 

CHEOlSriC DIAEEHEA. 

The records show one hundred and twenty-five 
cases of chronic diarrhea admitted into hospital. 
This number includes only the worst class of 
cases, the milder ones being treated in quarters. 
A limited number of cases of this disease were 
admitted into prison sick, having contracted the 
disease in the army ; but the great mass of them 



368 APPENDIX. 

originated in tlie prison, beginning as occasional 
attacks of acute dysentery or diarrhea. 

Chronic diarrhea in prison was an incnrable 
disease. I can not say that I ever saw a prisoner 
recover from it while in prison. It very soon be- 
came the great dread and fear of the prisoner. 
When the physician told him his case was one of 
confirmed chronic diarrhea, he regarded it as 
equivalent to the announcement of his death pen- 
Silty, if he remained in prison. I can not say that 
medicine was not useful in the disease as a pallia- 
tive, but as a curative it was of no avail. 

All possible changes were wrought upon the 
many remedies recommended by our standard 
authors, but, regardless of everything, the disease 
maintained its hold upon its victim, slowly but 
surely emaciating and prostrating him, until he 
was but a living skeleton. The circumstances 
surrounding us in prison forbade post mortem 
examinations of our dead, hence I am unable to 
give any description of the pathological condition 
of the bowels in this disease. But, from close 
study of it in all its phases, I was convinced that 
the mesenteric glands were seriously diseased, 
perhaps the seat of tuberculous deposits ; that is, 
the disease was really a consumption of the 
bowels. Physicians from the Southern States, 
familiar with the marasmus or tabes mesenterica 
which destroys so many children, especially 



APPENDIX. 369 

negroes living in our prairie and limestone regions, 
could not fail to take this view of the chronic 
diarrhea as existing in prison. 

Our great efforts were to change entirely the 
diet and habits of the patient, to give him fresh, 
digestible meat and vegetables instead of his salt 
food. The hospital ration did not permit us to 
carry out this idea as it should have been, the 
supply of vegetables only permitting a substan- 
tial vegetable soup to such cases as required it 
once a day. Much relief was given to this class 
of sick by boxes of suitable provisions and hos- 
pital supplies sent to prisoners by friends in the 
border States of Kentucky, Missouri and Mary- 
land. But early in 1864 the Government forbade 
the reception of such supplies, except under such 
restrictions as practically closed this avenue of 
relief to our sick. Had the Government permitted 
it, our friends in these border States and elsewhere 
would have amply supplied tiie prison hospital 
with that class of food so sadly needed, viz. : fresh 
and dried fruits, pickles, jellies, onions, etc. 

Luckily for many cases of chronic diarrhea in 
this and other prisons, the two Governments agreed 
in the summer of 1864 to exchange ,the chronic 
sick prisoners. Under this arrangement our hos- 
pital and prison were relieved of a very large 
number of unfortunates, who must otherwise have 

inevitably died. After their release I have heard 
24 



370 APPENDIX. 

of many rtjcoveries, yet a great number died. 
The chroiuc ^.liarrhea of ]3risoners was certainly 
the most latai result of bad and insufficient food, 
bad water, crowded, badly ventilated rooms, and 
the many other dej)ressing influences surrounding 
prisoners of w^ar. 

SCURVY. 

Jr. & 
In the period of time embraced in this report, 
fifty-six cases of scurvy were admitted and treated 
in the prison hospital. These were the severe 
cases of the prison ; the milder cases were very 
numerous, but were not admitted into hospital, 
but treated in quarters. I place scurvy immedi- 
ately after dysentery and chronic diarrhea, from 
the fact that I regard the causes of the three dis- 
eases as occurring in prison the same. 

Before this time it had never been my misfor- 
tune to see scurvy except in its sporadic form, 
only a rare case occurring here and there. As 
seen in prison, it presented the usual softening, 
bleeding ulceration of the gums and loosening of 
the teeth ; but the great prostration of muscular 
power, the swollen, bruised and painful condition 
of the legs and thighs, were the prominent feat- 
ures of the disease. The swelling generally began 
on the legs, in the bend of the knee, and extended 
down to the feet and up to the hip. At first a red, 
swollen and inflamed patch would present itself, 



APPENDIX. 371 

extending frequently over the wlioh' limb; in a 
few days the part first inflamed w nir tnrn dark, 
losing its redness and assuming a bruised, mottled 
appearance, as if the limb had been severely 
beaten. The swollen parts were very hard and 
firm, and presented none of the ordinary soft, 
elastic se". ion of a sound part. This state of 
things wa.: :■ ': first very painful. The muscles 
attacked about the knee were greatly contracted, 
flexing the leg back toward the thigh. In the 
slighter cases, the j)atient could walk by touching 
the tips of his toes to the ground and supporting 
himself on his stick or crutch, but the effort was 
very painful. The more serious cases were con- 
fined to bed, the leg so drawn up as to forbid any 
locomotion. There wats rarely any febrile excite- 
ment. The worst cases presented an eruption of 
dark, livid spots, varying in size from a pin's head 
to a picayune, generally covering the whole body, 
but thicker on the swollen lower limbs. These 
were cases of purpura hsemorrhagica, yet I rarely 
saw any serious loss of blood from any of the 
mucous surfaces in these cases. Many of these 
cases were complicated with diarrhea; then 
bloody discharges occasionally occurred. 

I have seen ulceration of the cornea in a small 
number of the worst cases, yet they were rare. 
I never saw a prisoner lose his sight from this 



372 APPENDIX. 

cause ; the ulcer would lieal as tlie general health 
improved. 

Scurvy was especially amenable to treatment. 
I have never been more gratified at the results of 
medicine than when I saw my prostrated, bruised, 
deformed and miserable companions and friends 
daily rapidly improving under the use of the 
muriated tincture of iron, tonic doses of quinine, 
and a free use of vinegar, and such fruits and 
vegetables as could be commanded in the hospi- 
tal. We generally had a moderate supply of 
cabbage or turnips, Irish potatoes or onions, but 
not more than enough to make a good vegetable 
soup once a day for such cases requiring it. In 
addition to this, these cases were occasionally 
supplied with dried apples or pickles, sent them 
by friends or relatives in the border States, or 
purchased for them by some of the charitable 
associations organized among the prisoners ; the 
chief of these were the Masonic and Young 
Men's Christian Associations, organizations which 
effected great good -among the prisoners, espe- 
cially in nursing the sick and supplying such del- 
icacies as circumstances permitted. The com- 
mander of the post. Col. Charles Hill, frequently 
extended privileges to these associations which 
he could not to individuals. 

Under the above plan of treatment, even the 



APPENDIX. 373 

worst cases of scurvy recovered moderate liealtli 
in a month. A single case of scurvy did not die 
in prison. 

At the time when scurvy was most prevalent 
in the prison, one of the medical inspectors who 
periodically visited the prison ordered an issue 
of iifteen pounds of onions or potatoes to the one 
hundred rations, three times a week. This issue 
would give each prisoner one very large or two 
medium sized onions or potatoes at each issue. 
The result was almost magical. In two months 
scurvy disappeared from our midst. But very 
soon after the discontinuance of this ration the 
disease returned, to be again cured by another 
issue of onions or potatoes. 

•ERYSIPELAS. 

The records show but nineteen cases of erysipe- 
las treated in hospital. One ward of the hospital 
was set apart for the reception of this disease, and 
only in extreme emergencies were such cases ad- 
mitted into the other wards ; though it was not re- 
garded by the phj^sicians as contagious, yet the 
prisoners, especially the sick, were exceedingly 
loth to come in contact with it Sometimes there 
was difficult}^ in securing sufficient nurses for such 
cases. From my own knowledge and correspond- 
ence with my fellow physicians who were associ- 
ated with me in the medical service in this prison. 



374 APPEIS-DIX. 

I estimate one hundred and fifty cases of erysipe- 
las treated in tlie jprison during the time embraced 
in this report. 

The great majority of the cases were idiopathic 
erysipelas, yet there were many cases of traumatic 
origin. The disease prevailed more esi)ecially 
during the autumn and winter of 1864 and 1865 ; 
indeed, during this time the disease was endemic 
in the prison. So much was this the case that we 
never dared to use the knife for surgical purposes, 
except in cases of absolute necessity to save life or 
the great destruction 'of tissue ; the smallest cuts 
were followed by erysipelas. Even blistered sur- 
faces took on erysipelatous inflammation. Many 
of the old suppurating wounds were attacked. 

Nine-tenths of the idiopathic erysipelas which 
came under my observation began on the face ; 
most frequently in the inner angle of the eye, on 
the j)rominence of one of the cheek bones, or the 
tip of the nose ; sometimes on the ear. When not 
on the face, a hand, arm or the leg was its most 
frequent site. From a slight blush confined to a 
spot, the swelling and redness would gradually 
but surely extend until, in the great majority of 
the cases, the whole face was implicated, and very 
often the Avhole head and scalp, sometimes the 
neck down to the shoulders. I can not say that I 
ever saw idiopathic erysipelatous inflammation, 
originating on the face extend beyond the neck 



APPENDIX. 375 

and slionlders. The disease would require gen- 
erally about three, sometimes four, days to reach 
its limits ; so that when the last parts were at the 
hight of inflammation, the first part attacked was 
growing better. In the acute stage of the disease, 
the skin is very red and tender to the touch, the 
swelling is great, extending into the subcutaneous 
structures. When the whole or a great part of the 
face is implicated the patient's most intimate 
friend would not recognize him ; the eyes are 
closed, and instead you see a great swollen mass 
protrucling over each one, the flaccid tissues cover- 
ing the eyelids suffering especially from the in- 
flammation. The nose is very large, intensely 
red and shining ; the ears lose all due proportion 
to the healthy organ, the external oriflce being 
frequently closed by the thickened tissues. When 
the scalp is implicated, the head is as large as 
two ordinary heads. After a considerable portion 
of surface is implicated, the febrile excitement is 
very considerable ; pulse full and frequent, but 
compressible ; skin hot and dry ; tongue coated, 
with thirst and loss of appetite. The chief com- 
plaint of the patient is from the hot, burning and 
painfully inflamed surface, the inconvenience oc- 
casioned by the closure of the eyes and ears and 
the pain resulting from the pressure of the back 
of the head on the pillow. In the severe cases 
there was great headache, followed by severe cere- 



376 APPENDIX. 

bral disorder. But these brain symptoms did not 
generally appear until tlie subsidence of the super- 
ficial infiammation. After the headache came 
delirium, of a low, muttering character, some- 
times coma ; such cases were very grave, the 
delirium persisting four and five days. In these 
cases the asthenic character of the disease was 
especially marked, the patient exhibiting all the 
evidences of what we style a " typhoid condition." 
In some of the severer cases I have seen the in- 
flammation extend into the fauces, resulting .in 
great destruction of tissue, and always in death. 
Nearly every case involving much tissue resulted 
in suppuration, the tissues around the eyes suffer- 
ing especially, large abscesses forming and con- 
tinuing to discharge for days, and upon healing 
leaving a permanent scar under the eye where it 
had been opened. I have seen the whole scalp 
undermined by one abscess ; by opening it at one 
point the most remote part could be discharged. 
This disposition of erysipelas to result in suppu- 
ration was almost universal, and had to be con- 
sidered in the treatment of the early stages of the 
disease. 

After the first few cases, the following plan of 
treatment was universally adopted as the most 
successful: Twenty drops of the muriated tinc- 
ture of iron and two grains of quinine every two 
hours until the patient complained of a fulness or 



APPEKDIX. 377 

pain in the head, showing that he was under the 
influence of the remedies ; then the size and fre- 
quency of the dose was diminished so as to main- 
tain the constant influence of the remedies. To- 
ward tlie close of the disease (about the end of a 
weelv) the dose was quite small, and repeated 
about three times a day. At first we attempted 
to arrest the spread of the inflammation by cir- 
cumscribing the inflamed spot by cauterizing a 
narrow strij) of the skin with the nitrate of silver. 
This was useless, and only caused additional pain 
and soreness ; the disease spread over these lines 
as if they had not been made. After the first few 
cases were tortured in this way, we abandoned it 
and substituted painting the whole inflamed sur- 
face with a diluted tincture of iodine — at first 
three times a day until the skin grew tender from 
it, and then once or twice a day, as needed. Con- 
trary to what we would expect on theoretical 
grounds, this painting gave great relief to the 
local distress, the patients begging for it before 
the regular "painting hour" arrived. Its tonic, 
stimulating influence on the skin seemed to pre- 
vent suppuration and hasten the arrest of the 
disease, the iodine always being applied an inch 
in advance of the inflamed edge. 

This plan was eminently successful ; I saw but 
two cases of erysipelas die, and these were wherw 
the brain and fauces were attacked. I am aware 



378 APPENDIX. 

that idiopathic eiysipelas lias never proved very 
fatal, but tlie great number of cases treated under 
such adverse circumstances by the above plan 
not only convince me of its great value, but of the 
asthenic character of the disease. I regard it as 
a blood disease and asthenic in type. 

The traumatic erysipelas, or those cases start- 
ing in wounds, were generally far more grave than 
the idiopathic ; the cases were of longer duration 
and much less amenable to treatment. The 
wound, as soon as attacked, ceased all curative 
process, and, on the contrary, sometimes sloughed. 
The cases starting in blistered surfaces generally 
resulted fatally, as the blister had been applied 
for pneumonia or other fatal disease. 

PRISOJSr FEVER. 

Sixty cases of a fever called by the physicians 
who treated it prison fever, were admitted into 
hospital. It was not typhoid fever, presenting 
none of the enteric S3miptoms of this fever, or 
any other of its distinguishing marks except a 
continued fever. Its duration was generally from 
two to four weeks. There was no evidence of any 
special organic lesion, no eruption, no diarrhea, 
some prostration, but not so marked as we see it 
in typhoid fever or severe typhus ; rare if any 
delirium or other evidence of cerebral disorder. 
It was simply a mild, continued fever, and I can- 



APPENDIX. 379 

not classify it otherwise tlian as a very mild form 
of tyi^hus fever. This fact was very early re- 
marked by me : When a case of this form of 
continued fever was admitted into my wards, I 
invariably asked him if he lived in a crowded 
room, and if he slept in an upper bunk. These 
questions were almost invariably answered in the 
affirmative. Some of these rooms contained eighty 
men. The heated air and the human exhalations 
rising to the higher parts of the room were 
breathed by the occupants of these bunks, who 
became the subjects of prison fever. A case 
rarely occurred on a lower bunk. 

I would remark here, in connection with this 
and other continued fevers of the prison, also as 
to erysipelas, that the applications for admission 
into hospital were much more numerous during 
very cold, raw and disagreeable M^eather, when 
prisoners could not exercise in the open air. As 
soon as a few days of clear and pleasant weather 
occurred a marked diminution of this class of 
disease was at once apparent. The prison fever 
was a blood poison, resulting from rebreathing a 
coniined, impure air, and the other depressing 
circumstances surrounding a prison. Had these 
prisoners been confined for a long time to these 
barracks, without th6 privilege of exercise in the 
open air, we should certainly have had the genu- 
ine typhus fever of a grave type. 



380 APPEXDIX 



MALARIAL FEVEE. 



Eiglity-nine cases of intermittent fever, forty- 
tliree of remittent and eight of congestive fever 
were admitted into the prison hospital. Some of 
these cases were undoubtedly relapses of old at- 
tacks of malarial fever contracted in the armj^ be- 
fore admission into prison ; but the great majority 
was contracted in prison. I arrived at this con- 
clusion against j^reconceived ideas. I was a pris- 
oner on this island for two months, in the summer 
of 1862, and I did not see a case of malarial fever 
among the twelve hundred prisoners confined 
there. I could see no local cause for malaria; 
there are no marshes, ponds or other sources of 
malaria on the island or vicinity within ni}^ knowl- 
edge. The lake is a body of pure, fresh water, 
never stagnant or unhealthy from any cause, so 
far as I could see or learn. 

During the winter few cases occurred, but as 
soon as spring Aveather came malarial fevers were 
frequent, the months of May and June presenting 
the greatest number. I have not seen the effect 
of malaria more a2:)parent in Alabama during 
August and September than on Johnson's Island 
in May and June. I can only account for it in this 
way ; During winter everything of a tiuid charac- 
ter freezes in that latitude ; thus the ditches, 
drains, &c., were tilled with the accumulations of 



' APPEJfDIX. 381 

animal and vegetable matter. The whole surface 
of the jjrison yard, especially privies, also collected 
filth, w^hich, in consequence of ice and snow, was 
not removed until spring. When the the thaws 
of spring came on this mass began rapid decom- 
position, filling the air with malaria. By the 
month of June the prison was thoroughly cleansed 
and malarial fevers nearly ceased, 3^et occasional 
cases occurred during the summer. These fevers, 
though, were by no means so severe as we see 
them in Alabama. They were more amenable to 
treatment and less likely to relapse. 

KESPIRATORY ORGAlSrS. 

Of this class of disease there were treated in 
this hospital : Of catarrh, 3 ; pneumonia, 26 ; 
tonsillitis, 13 ; angina, 8 ; phthisis pulmonalis, 6 ; 
pleuritis, 5. Of catarrh, angina and tonsillitis 
many hundred occurred in the prison, but not of 
sufficient gravity to require hospital treatment. 

But the amount of disease of the respiratory 
organs was far less than I had anticipated. All 
my preconceived ideas of the eff'ects of extreme 
cold upon men entirely unaccustomed to it had 
led me to expect a vast amount of lung disease 
among our prisoners; I can not say that I saw a 
case of phthisis which had its origin in the prison. 
There was certainly little disposition to the devel- 



382 APPENDIX. ■ 

opment of tubercles in the lungs, and hence I 
infer no great exciting cause. 

Much could be said by the mental philosoj^her 
upon the effects of imprisonment upon the mind. 
I saw in this prison many cases of decided mental 
aberration, but they were generally so slight as 
not to be detected, except under favorable circum- 
stances. They were monomaniacs upon some 
subjects, yet I can not say that these were cases 
of insanity, though for the time the reason was 
unbalanced. But one case of positive insanity 
was admitted in hospital. He was exchanged 
soon after the develoj^ment of the disease, and I 
have not learned the result. 

In conclusion, I would say that I do not con- 
sider that any local cause of disease exists on 
Johnson's Island. On the contrary, where persons 
are well protected, in substantial houses, suited 
to the climate, well fed and clothed, it is a healthy 
locality. I say this because I know that there 
was an almost universal idea among the Southern 
people that the locality, independent of the treat- 
ment of prisoners, was the cause of disease among 
them. This idea had its foundation in the fact of 
the intense cold on this island, but I did not find 
the cold productive of disease where ample pro- 
tection was provided against it. 

I. a. W. STEEDMAiS', M.D. 



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